Dental care for pregnant woman: dental surgeon's perceptions

Abstract

The relation of oral diseases and its negative repercussions on the life of the pregnant woman and infants motivate the need for dental care during pregnancy. But there is still uncertainty or lack of knowledge about the subject by many dental professionals to carry out oral health treatment in pregnant women. This is a cross-sectional, quantitative study about the dental care provided to pregnant user of the Sistema Único de Saúde, whose data were collected by the application of a survey with open and closed questions. The staff consisted of 217 dentists who worked in local health units in the City of Belém, capital of Pará State, Brazil, in the year 2011. The sample consisted of 138 professionals selected by simple random sampling. The results showed that: 82.6% of dentists have assisted pregnant women; only 51.4% performed preventive and curative procedures; 57.7% believed that the second semester is the ideal treatment period; 44.9% used lidocaine as anesthetic; 77.5% prescribed antibiotics; and 92.6% performed radiographs. Therefore, it could be seen that dental care to pregnant women is limited by practical methods without theorical knowledge improvement, being necessary to reevaluate them and create attendance protocols.