Background and objectives: Understanding the level of knowledge, attitude and practiceof pregnant women is important toprevent oral and dental problems and their complications during pregnancy, because information can be used to: indicate the level of oral health status, initiate continuing education to pregnant women, that will be improve knowledge, change attitude of pregnant women regarding oral health, and develop practice of desirable habits and behavior.
The present study aimed to assess the level of women's knowledge, attitude and Health -care practice concerning oral and dental health during pregnancy in Mansoura city- Egypt.
Methods: a cross-section study was conducted on 550 Egyptian women selected randomly from the maternal and child welfare in the city of Mansoura. A self-administered, close ended confidential questionnaires covering oral health knowledge, attitude and self-care practice based regarding oral health was used to collected data. The obtained date were collected and analyzed.
Results: It was found that age of the respondents ranged from 18 to 39 years, with a mean age of 25.97±4.About 15.6%of all pregnant women were aware that tooth loose increase during pregnancy. About 77.6% of pregnant women considered their oral health as priority,About 47.3, 31.5%of women gave correct answers regarding type of tooth brush and paste . About 5.6%of women gave correct answers regarding the frequency of used dental floss .The percentage of good knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice towards oral health were4.7%, 5.8%, 24.2% respectively.
Conclusions:less incidence of pregnant women were aware that the teeth loosen respectively increase during pregnancy. Almost of pregnant women considered their oral health as priority. Less than half selected ideal type of tooth brush and paste respectively, and little of them used dental floss daily. Overall percentage of good knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice were low.