Oral health and pregnancy: evaluation of the relationship between oral health and quality of life in pregnant women in a primary care center in Trujillo – Peru

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between oral health-related quality of life and associated variables. This study used a cross-sectional, observational, correlational design. A total of 222 pregnant women were invited to participate and distributed the OHIP-14 questionnaire to measure their oral health-related quality of life. Their oral health status was also assessed using the DMFT (decayed, missing, and filled teeth) and the OHI (Simplified Oral Hygiene Index). The results of the study revealed that 32.9% of pregnant women had a moderate oral health-related quality of life and DMFT, followed by a high DMFT (26.1%), and finally, 13.1% had a low DMFT. Thus, it is concluded that there is a statistically significant relationship between CPO-D and oral health-related quality of life (p=0.003). A relationship is also evident between CPO-D and the dimensions of oral health-related quality of life, except for the functional limitation dimension (p<0.05).