Oral health promotion during pregnancy: a literature review

Abstract

Health promotion is a strategy that can be used in prenatal care and these actions favor the pregnant woman's knowledge about her baby's oral health. This work consists of presenting the care related to the oral health of the mother-baby binomial, according to the literature and consists of an integrative review of the literature in which the databases used were: LILACS, Pubmed and SciELO. As a search strategy, the following keywords were used: "Dental Care", "Prenatal Education", "Pregnant Women" and "Health Promotion". Among the inclusion criteria, studies published in Portuguese and English were chosen, selected between the years 2004 to 2021. The exclusion criteria were: articles that did not present relevant information on the proposed topic and works that contained outdated information on the topic. A total of 71 articles were found, 24 of which were excluded, and 47 studies were selected as the basis for this review. The gestational period shows several systemic changes and each woman goes through this experience differently. Thus, dental care during pregnancy is a very questionable topic, especially in accordance with the myths and beliefs created without any scientific evidence. The introduction of actions in oral health programs, aimed at the prenatal period, is essential for the health of the mother and baby. The dentist has the function of promoting oral health in the family environment.