Centre for Rural Health, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Aust Dent J. 2024 Sep;69(3):219-231. doi: 10.1111/adj.13019. Epub 2024 May 15.
Poor oral health is associated with adverse health, social and economic consequences for pregnant women. While dental professionals promote good oral health within the dental practice context, more broadly, women in the antenatal period face poor oral health outcomes. Therefore, this study explored dental professionals' perceptions of their role in managing the oral health of pregnant women and identified the barriers and facilitators to improving maternal oral health.
This study employed a descriptive qualitative method utilizing semi-structured interviews. Convenience and snowball sampling were used to recruit 13 dental professionals from Tasmania, Australia, comprising dentists (n = 10), oral health therapists (n = 2) and dental therapist (n = 1). Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis.
Three major themes were constructed from the interviews: (1) dental professionals' oral health care of women during pregnancy; (2) perceived challenges to maternal oral health; and (3) proposed strategies to improve maternal oral health.
Findings suggest dental professionals' competence in maternal oral health, but that several barriers, such as dental care access and maternal factors, hinder oral health outcomes. To address these barriers, oral health policies that support interprofessional collaboration, professional training and evaluation of existing community oral health programmes are needed. © 2024 Australian Dental Association.
孕妇的口腔健康状况不佳与健康状况不佳、社会和经济后果有关。虽然牙科专业人员在牙科实践环境中提倡良好的口腔健康，但更广泛地说，产前妇女面临着口腔健康状况不佳的后果。因此，本研究探讨了牙科专业人员对其在管理孕妇口腔健康方面的作用的看法，并确定了改善产妇口腔健康的障碍和促进因素。
本研究采用描述性定性方法，使用半结构式访谈。采用便利抽样和滚雪球抽样的方法，从澳大利亚塔斯马尼亚州招募了 13 名牙科专业人员，包括牙医（n=10）、口腔健康治疗师（n=2）和牙科治疗师（n=1）。对访谈进行了录音、逐字转录，并使用归纳主题分析进行了分析。
从访谈中构建了三个主要主题：（1）牙科专业人员在女性怀孕期间的口腔保健；（2）对产妇口腔健康的感知挑战；（3）改善产妇口腔健康的建议策略。
研究结果表明，牙科专业人员在产妇口腔健康方面具有一定的能力，但存在一些障碍，如口腔保健的可及性和产妇因素，这些因素阻碍了口腔健康的结果。为了解决这些障碍，需要制定支持跨专业合作、专业培训和评估现有社区口腔卫生方案的口腔卫生政策。
