Prenatal Oral Health Education in U.S. Obstetrics and Gynecology Residencies and Dental Schools: Results of a National Survey
Faculty Advisor
Hugh Silk, Judith SavageauUMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Family Medicine and Community HealthDocument Type
PosterPublication Date
2013-05-01Keywords
Oral HealthPrenatal Care
Education
Medical
Graduate
Internship and Residency
Obstetrics
Gynecology
Education
Dental
Community Health and Preventive Medicine
Dentistry
Maternal and Child Health
Medical Education
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Women's Health
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Background: Pregnant women represent a special population within oral health care. Adverse pregnancy outcomes and increased infant caries can occur when prenatal oral disease is not addressed. Currently, medical and dental clinicians are not meeting the oral health needs of pregnant patients. Objective: Medical and dental providers are not addressing prenatal oral health (POH) with patients despite knowledge of the risks. The objective of this study was to determine how training in dental schools and OB/Gyn residencies may contribute to this paradox. Methods: We conducted a national survey of 60 dental school deans and 240 obstetrics and gynecology residency program directors. Questions assessed the number of hours of POH education, topics addressed, awareness of guidelines, and barriers to including more POH training. Results: Response rates were 53% and 40% for dental schools and OB/Gyn residencies, respectively. 94% of dental schools provide some POH education, with 61% of schools offering 3+ hours. Only 39% of OB/Gyn residencies provide some POH education, most only 1-2 hours. 65% of dental programs and 45% of OB/Gyn residencies are aware of current POH evidence-based guidelines. Those OB/Gyn residency programs with POH training were three times as likely to expose their residents to these guidelines. A similar trend was observed for dental schools. Barriers to POH education include space in the curriculum and competing clinical priorities. 76% of OB/Gyn directors affirmed the importance of addressing oral health needs among prenatal patients; however, only 23% agreed that the ACGME should add POH competencies. The majority of respondents agreed they would add more POH education if the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology issued a policy statement or practice bulletin. Conclusions: The majority of dental schools teach POH but clinical exposure is limited. Less than half of OB/Gyn residencies include POH training. Future efforts should include distribution of POH guidelines/consensus statements to educators and learners, increasing exposure of dental students to pregnant patients, and developing faculty expertise in residencies.DOI
10.13028/xw1v-2n43Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/49216Notes
Medical student Megan Weeks participated in this study as part of the Senior Scholars research program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
This poster earned top honors at the 2013 Senior Scholars Presentation Day.
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Copyright is held by the author(s), with all rights reserved.ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.13028/xw1v-2n43
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