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DENTAL HEALTH OF PREGNANT WOMEN: 1. A SURVEY OF DENTAL KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES IN AN ANTENATAL CLINIC POPULATION
Author(s) -
Chapman P. J.,
McDonald A. M.,
Stoddart E. J.,
Mackat E. V.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1971.tb92739.x
Subject(s) - medicine , family medicine , dental health , population , dental care , dental hygiene , nursing , environmental health
The results of a survey of the knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to dental health of 303 patients attending a public hospital antenatal clinic are presented. Reasonable standards were evident in relation to knowledge of basic aspects of dental health and In the practice of personal dental hygiene. The most significant and serious deficiency was the failure to seek regular dental care; almost three‐quarters of the patients attended their dentist only as a matter of necessity—usually because of the pain of dental caries. The patient's family and school played the major roles in her dental education. The antenatal period should be utilized more adequately to strengthen existing dental health knowledge with suitable educational programmes.