ABSTRACT
Aim: To assess the knowledge and awareness about periodontal oral health among pregnant women presenting at the Antenatal Clinic of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital
Method: A descriptive cross- sessional study was carried out among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. Respondents were selected using systemic sampling techniques. Data was obtained using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and was analyzed with IBM SPSS version 25.0 and frequency distribution and cross tabulation were computed for categorical variables. Oral health practices, knowledge and awareness of periodontal health were determined.
Results: The age of participants varied from 22 - 44 years, with mean age of 31.8 ± 5 years. Majority of the respondents (71.1%), had fair oral health practice, while 22.4% with good knowledge about periodontal diseases, while 18.5% with high level of awareness about oral health and periodontal diseases.
Conclusion: This study has shown that the awareness level of periodontal health among the pregnant women is low irrespective of the fact that majority of them had fair oral health practice and average knowledge of periodontal health.
Keywords: Periodontal health, Awareness, Knowledge, Pregnant women, Oral health
