Knowledge attitudes and practices of healthcare professionals on oral care of pregnant women- a national study

Abstract Objective To examine nationwide the knowledge, attitudes and practices of healthcare professionals on the oral care of pregnant women in Brunei Darussalam. Materials and methods A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted using an online survey on eligible healthcare professionals in all Government Maternal and Child Health Care Clinics, Dental Clinics and Obstetrics and Gynecological Clinics throughout Brunei Darussalam (N = 346). Results A total of 346 healthcare professionals participated in this online study. Participants’ view on the importance of dental/oral health in prenatal/antenatal care, most (94.3%) responded that they perceive dental/oral health to be of high importance. Though, only a little over half of the participants (59.0%) included dental/oral health questions during prenatal/antenatal health assessments. Moreover, only 16.2% of participants frequently discussed regarding the importance of dental/oral care with their prenatal/antenatal patients. Conclusions According to this study, most healthcare professionals had a positive attitude towards the importance of dental/oral care for prenatal/antenatal patients. However, not all portrayed it when it comes to their practice with regard to dental/oral care in pregnant women.