Self-reported oral health care and access to oral health information among pregnant women in Wellington, New Zealand

Objectives The aims of this study were to gain an understanding of pregnant women's oral health care practices, access to information, and dental care usage in New Zealand, and to investigate whether these differed between sociodemographic groups. Methods One researcher visited 69 antenatal classes in the Wellington region to explain the study. Women self-completed the questionnaire and returned it by post. Results A total of 405 women (55% response rate) took part. 79.2% of participants identified as New Zealand European and most were of high income and education levels, 32% visited the dentist during pregnancy and more than 60% reported bleeding gums. Women with a household income under NZ$ 70,000 per year were significantly less likely to report access to oral health information (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.10-0.76) and more likely to report the need to see a dentist (OR 2.55, 95% CI 1.08-5.99) compared to women with an income over NZ$ 100,000 per year. Conclusions Visits to the dentist and access to oral health information were more common among New Zealand European women with higher education achievements and higher socioeconomic backgrounds with only a third of women went seeing a dentist during pregnancy. Improving the oral health of pregnant women will have follow-on benefits of improved oral health outcomes for their children.