Qualitative exploration of dental professionals’ management of women during pregnancy

Abstract

Aim or Purpose: National guidelines and policies advocate for dental professionals to implement preventive interventions for women during pregnancy. Despite this, pregnant women continue to experience poor oral health outcomes. This study aimed to explore dental professionals’ perceptions and experiences in the oral health management of pregnant women to identify strategies to support their clinical practice. Materials and Methods: This study employed a descriptive qualitative method utilising semi-structured interviews. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit dental professionals from Tasmania, Australia, between October 2021 to February 2023. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Prior University ethical approval was obtained. Results: A total of 13 dental professionals were interviewed (10 dentists, two oral health therapists, and one dental therapist), whereby most participants were female (n=10) and worked in private practice (n=9). Participants were willing to manage the oral health of pregnant women and espoused its clinical value as a public health measure. However, several challenges to improving women's oral health were reported: (1) patient social and financial barriers to dental care; (2) inadequate antenatal care provider communication and engagement; and (3) constrained development and maintenance of state-wide initiatives to address the scope of the problem. Conclusions: Dental professionals supported the oral health management of pregnant women as a critical public health issue. Reform of preventive dentistry and funding, as well as development of policies that strengthen interdisciplinary approaches between professions, are needed to address the social determinants of women's health needs to promote important changes