Oral Healthcare Among Pregnant Women

Understanding the changes to oral health has been a documented and recurring study from not just physicians, but to paternal scientists and scholars alike. The main elements that need to be considered is the sharing of the required education, training and information that is necessary for positive oral health.

There have been many different studies based on a worldwide scale that have been attributed to the discovery of what the exact physical and emotional changes during pregnancy and how they will affect one's oral health overall. It is not just delegated to the pregnant woman, but also towards the infant as they develop and grow. There are many different chemical changes that transpire in a woman's body when she becomes pregnant. In order to produce the correct hormones, chemicals and nutrients to create life; there will ultimately be many changes to her biological make-up as well. Understanding what these changes are, and how they develop will help create a system or dialogue towards the preparation for any negative impacts to a pregnant person's oral health. 

This document will discuss the different changes that can occur to one's body when they go through pregnancy, or are caring for a newborn child. We will take a look at the different studies that were conducted to obtain the required data, and form an understanding of where the compared information comes from. We are also going to discuss possible positive measures that can be used to develop framework systems and programs to prevent negative oral healthcare activities for future generations.

          Understanding one's emotional state is also coupled with understanding them as pregnant people themselves. Based on outside circumstances, upbringing, and available resources there will always be changes to one's ability to obtain the correct oral health care. In some cases, healthcare is sparse and not looked at as something that is necessarily required. Financial delegation also plays a crucial role in how many people are able to afford or even seek out potential oral health care services (Ruiz, Luciana Fantinel / Uffermann, Gabriela / Vargas-Ferreira, Fabiana / Bavaresco, Caren Serra / Neves, Matheus / de Moura, Flavio Renato Reis, 2019). Becoming pregnant means that you are going to have to take many things into consideration for yourself and your child. In some cases people who have made the choice to take the extra Health steps such as prenatal pregnancy vitamins, will also seek out oral care during the pregnancy phase. These individuals are also more likely to be already health conscious, and being more prepared for raising a child. In the municipality of Canoas, Brazil; 302 women were subjected to an interview that took a deeper look into their current and previous oral care activities. This included their current oral care habits, past dental records, medical history and current physical health status. (Ruiz, Luciana Fantinel / Uffermann, Gabriela / Vargas-Ferreira, Fabiana / Bavaresco, Caren Serra / Neves, Matheus / de Moura, Flavio Renato Reis, 2019).

Gingivitis is extremely common, and can be a hidden issue that takes a long time to diagnose. Not only is it hard to detect, some of the symptoms may not be visible until they have become a serious health concern. This is particularly dangerous for infants, fetuses and women who may become pregnant. This is because of the amount of bacteria that comes from your mouth that develops along the gum lines that can and will ultimately be digested. If it is suffering from gingivitis unknowingly, she may be susceptible to swallowing more bacteria than she would if you were adhering to a standard oral health care regimen. Because fetuses do not have the strong immune system as an adult, disease, malnourishment and other negative effects can and will transpire during the pregnancy stage. (Deghatipour, Zahra Ghorbani, Mina Pakkhesal, 2019 paragraph.2) 

One of the causes of poor healthcare among pregnant women is that of gingivitis. This is an important issue simply because during the pregnancy stages, several hormones affect the ability for women to create the necessary nutrients to build and develop there to enamel. This can also lead to gum infection, and cause more other use and infections. Because of the systemic changes to the environment, educational upbringing, socio-economic standards and overall health, there may be knowledge of the negative effect towards oral health during pregnancy, or not. The unfortunate part about this is, in many cases this fact has been left undocumented, or I monitored because of basic lack of knowledge. Marzie Deghatipour, Zahra Ghorbani, Mina Pakkhesal, 2019, paragraph 3).  The studies pertaining to oral health in pregnant women also pertain to their ethnic background, and cultural upbringing. This plays a crucial role on their diet, physiology and even the age they may become pregnant. All of these factors need to be calculated to determine what controls, alters and ultimately deviates from standard oral health care when a woman becomes pregnant. These combined circumstances need to be taken into account. Institutes that monitor these events and implement new strategies are also very passionate about organizational skills. Documented findings need to be shared and expressed with others in order to formulate a sound plan of action. In order to draw a clear comparison, a study between indigenous individuals, against non-indigenous people was carried out to understand the changes in their oral health care during their pregnancy (Dent, 2017). During the study, they also found that many of the healthcare practitioners who participated who understood indigenous studies, had a stronger understanding of the fundamental differences between non-indigenous and Indigenous individuals. (Kong, A. C., Ramjan, L. M., Sousa, M. S., Gwynne, K., Goulding, J., Jones, N., Srinivas, R., Rambaldini, B., Moir, R., & George, A. Paragraph 2, 2020). There has been a proven direct correlation between negative oral health during pregnancy, and damage to the unborn fetus before it reaches maturity. Understanding this is extremely important. Pregnant women who do not have preordained knowledge of the negative effects their teeth have on their unborn infants, will ultimately lead to more problems during and after the child is born. (Kong, A. C., Ramjan, L. M., Sousa, M. S., Gwynne, K., Goulding, J., Jones, N., Srinivas, R., Rambaldini, B., Moir, R., & George, A. Paragraph 4, 2020).

Because of diet, cultural norms and a lack of access to healthcare, unfortunately indigenous mothers are more susceptible to poor oral health, and ultimately end up with more children who have underlying health conditions.  One of the reasons negative Health Care comes into effect are that of miscommunication, lack of Education and unlimited resources. Instilling the drive towards managing your health, also needs to be instructed, taught and managed in a productive Karma Progressive format. The percentage rates between each one of the studies varies based on what the recorded data suggests. On one hand, brushing your teeth of course will have more positive results than not. But on the other doing so correctly needs all to take into account (Dent, 2017). The various health changes that happen to your body when you become pregnant, and oral health care design for pregnant women is not only isolated to how others manually care for their teeth, but how they care for themselves overall during their pregnancy. The results of the study show approximately 87% of the women who brush their teeth and flossed on a regular basis had less birth defects than those who brush their teeth sparsely, or did not use correct dental equipment such as a toothbrush. Interestingly enough, some of the test subjects actually were resorting to use of their fingers for oral health care management (Dent, 2017). In order to understand the implementation of each study, certain types of protocols and systems have been created. The BME is one of the systems implemented in the country of brazil, and has been used as a method of measuring monitoring and implementing care when necessary towards the prenatal, and current health of pregnant women and their health care (Da Silva 2020).

          The studies that were conducted also monitored the quality of life before, during and after pregnancy. It is also weighed against the infant development, and how healthy they are upon birth. Each can sign individual also had several different basic oral health elements checked to ensure that the study was conducted correctly. One of the important factors to consider was the enamel barrier of the tooth itself. This is extremely important, because without having this, the teeth will become more susceptible to damage over time. Without a proper enamel barrier, the teeth can also decay at a faster rate than those who have not followed their oral health regimen. The other thing to consider is that of tooth loss based on damage, wear and tear or the inability to have access to the correct food. These cause negative impacts such as emotional strain, and when considering children born with health defects, and or are locking standard oral health maintenance education, they will have issues with their development. The major issue will be that of nutrition, but this is not to mention the problem that will arise from the social aspect (Mohtasham Ghaffari, 2018). Advancement in oral health care faces many challenges. Because of the lack of computer data, and combined with differentials and standard of living, and the simple education and information towards a better, healthy lifestyle will always provide limitations toward the progression of all of the health and safety mandates. Nutritional intake changes during pregnancy can lead to low birth weight, and a wide range of health and physical abnormalities to developing infants. The most common effect from poor oral health that will arise is that of premature birth. This happens when the lack of nutrients look too low for the fetus or developing child to sustain itself correctly in the womb, and the body is forced to give birth before the standard due date. This will lead to more forms of after care, and potentially stillbirth. Understanding this is difficult to explain to a large audience, because there are so many individuals who are pregnant at the same time. If there were a plan of action set in place, or a standard dialogue that could be followed, then that would be less instances for birth differentials, and or problems with the child after it has been born (Dent, 2017). One of the ways oral health care can be managed is by understanding where each of the patients’' education. Does it come from a school or educational institute? Is it taught at home by parents or caregivers? Is it something that needs to be discovered on one's own? There is a very important value placed on managing our personal health and development. In order to pass these techniques down to our youth, methods, literature and techniques need to be made available. Understanding why specific types of individuals may neglect their health care, is the first step. Providing standard dialogues of framework platforms can be issued at educational facilities, hospitals, or even delivered for free at public events. But getting a message across is just as important as having the tools and equipment required to carry it out (Mohtasham Ghaffari, 2018).

References 

        Ruiz, L. F., Uffermann, G., Vargas‐Ferreira, F., Bavaresco, C. S., Neves, M., & De Moura, F. R. R. (2019). Use of dental care among pregnant women in the Brazilian Unified Health System. Oral Health & Preventive Dentistry, 17(1), 25–31. https://doi.org/10.3290/j.ohpd.a41980

        Deghati Pour, M., Ghorbani, Z., Ghanbari, S., Arshi, S., Ehdayivand, F., Namdari, M., & Pakkhesal, M. (2019). Oral health status in relation to socioeconomic and behavioral factors among pregnant women: a community-based cross-sectional study. BMC Oral Health, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-019-0801-x

         Kong, A. C., Ramjan, L. M., Sousa, M. S., Gwynne, K., Goulding, J., Jones, N., Srinivas, R., Rambaldini, B., Moir, R., & George, A. (2020). The oral health of Indigenous pregnant women: A mixed-methods systematic review. Women and Birth, 33(4), 311–322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2019.08.007

        Agrawal, N. & University Journal of Dental Sciences. (2017). 6 KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Oral Health Care in Pregnant Women in North India—a Cross Sectional Survey, 1, 318645307. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pramod-Yadav- 

3/publication/318645307_KNOWLEDGE_ATTITUDE_AND_PRACTICE_OF_ORAL_HEALTH_CARE_IN_PREGNANT_WOMEN_IN_NORTH_INDIAA_CROSS_SECTIONAL_SURVEY/links/59740db8a6fdcc834882b933/KNOWLEDGE-ATTITUDE-AND-PRACTICE-OF-ORAL-HEALTH-CARE-IN-PREGNANT-WOMEN-IN-NORTH-INDIAA-CROSS-SECTIONAL-SURVEY.pdf

          Ghaffari, M., Rakhshandehroo, S., Safari-Moradabadi, A., & Torabi, S. (2018). Oral and dental health care during pregnancy: Evaluating a theory-driven intervention. Oral Diseases, 24(8), 1606–1614. https://doi.org/10.1111/odi.12928

          Da Silva, C. C., Savian, C. M., Prevedello, B. P., Zamberlan, C., Dalpian, D. M., & Santos, B. Z. (2020). Acesso e utilização de serviços odontológicos por gestantes: revisão integrativa de literatura. Ciencia & Saúde Coletiva, 25(3), 827–835. https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232020253.01192018

https://naenaedentalclinic.co.nz/blog/the-importance-of-oral-health/