DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2013.v01i06.0016

Pages: 718-723

The aims of this study were to find occurrence of dental caries and gingivitis among pregnant women and to compare it with those in non-pregnant women. 265 pregnant and 270 non-pregnant women were recruited from Department of Ob –Gy, S. M. S. Method: Medical College Jaipur. Dental caries and gingivitis was defined clinically according to the World Health Organization (WHO) diagnostic criteria. Over 61.5% of pregnant women had caries, and 52.6% had gingivitis. There were significant differences between pregnant and non-pregnant women with regard to dental caries (p=0.0001) and gingivitis (p=0.0008). The pregnant women were 1.97 times more likely to suffer from dental caries (95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.39 – 2.78), and 1.81 times more (95% CI, 1.28 – 2.57) from gingivitis compared to non-pregnant women. Age less than 25 years (Odd ratio 1.8; 95% CI, 1.09 – 3.03), illiteracy (OR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.40 – 3.86), and rural dwelling (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.18 – 3.26) were significant predictors for dental caries. Predictors for gingivitis were similar to dental caries that is age less than 25 years (Odd ratio 2.22; 95% CI, 1.31 – 3.75), illiteracy (OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.07 – 2.99) and rural dwelling (OR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.27 – 3.59). Poor oral hygiene (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 0.95 – 2.59), poor attitude (OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 0.91 – 2.49) and poor behavior (OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.23 – 3.35) were important risk factors for dental caries. Similarly, inadequate knowledge (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.01 to 2.75), poor oral health attitude (OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.15 – 3.22) and poor behavior (OR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.20 – 3.38) were found to be significant risk factors for gingivitis among pregnant women. In conclusion, dental health awareness programs should be encouraged to improve the dental health of pregnant women.