Control of Pregnancy Gingivitis

Almost every element of a woman’s life is impacted by pregnancy, including her oral health. Recent risk assessments conducted across the USA revealed that 23 to 43% of pregnant women pursue dental care services. (Wu, Chen and Jiang, 2015). Periodontal diseases, dental caries, gingivitis, tooth mobility, and tooth erosion are the most typical dental issues that impact women during the prenatal time. Gingivitis, the most prevalent oral condition reported in 60–70% of pregnant women, will be the focus of this research.

Since the 1960s, there has been a marked rise in the frequency and severity of gingivitis during pregnancy, and in contemporary medicine, it is never ignored when pregnant women visit clinics. According to studies, the condition shows 30 to 100 % prevalence upon pregnancy occurs due to hormonal fluctuations of progesterone and estrogens, decreased immune response and changes in the normal flora in the oral cavity (Wu, Chen and Jiang, 2015). In this regard, women, especially during the prenatal period, require to achieve oral health daily hygiene and make frequent visits to the dentists for effective disease prevention and management.

Thomas, Middleton and Crowther (2008), showed that pregnant women with lower social- economic status and education are likely to be found with poor oral health compared to educated and economically stable ones. The findings were also observed in a study by Sajjan et al., (2015) which found that failure to seek dental care services is due to lack of knowledge about gum diseases common during pregnancy among women and the safest period that one needs to undergo dental treatment when pregnant. As such, although pregnancy gingivitis is associated with increased circulation of progesterone and estrogen hormone in the blood, disease incidents are still high across US due poor oral hygiene behaviors and dental care habits attributed to poor education and social- economic backgrounds.

Reference

Sajjan, P., Pattanshetti, J.I., Padmini, C., Nagathan, V.M., Sajjanar, M. and Siddiqui, T., 2015. Oral health related awareness and practices among pregnant women in Bagalkot District, Karnataka, India. Journal of international oral health: JIOH, 7(2), p.1..

Thomas, N.J., Middleton, P.F. and Crowther, C.A., 2008. Oral and dental health care practices in pregnant women in Australia: a postnatal survey. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 8(1), p.13

Wu, M., Chen, S.W. and Jiang, S.Y., 2015. Relationship between gingival inflammation and pregnancy. Mediators of inflammation, 2015.