[Education for dental health in pregnancy]

In health education it is important to emphasize knowledge about oral hygienic techniques in order to decrease the morbidity due to caries and periodontal disease. The Dental Office of the National Institute of Perinatology has developed educational activities with patients during the last ten years. With this experience, we have created an educational program concerning hygienic techniques designed to prevent the commonest oral diseases. We undertook an investigation to evaluate the results of this educational program. Experimental and control groups were subjected to a program including a 90 minute conference, a booklet and a video about caries, periodontal disease and oral hygienic techniques. The experimental group also had six practical sessions related to teeth brushing and dental thread usage. We evaluated the knowledge and the oral hygienic techniques. The results show an initial increase in knowledge in both groups; however, a later evaluation showed a decrease towards the original level. The difference in the group with practical training was evident. We agree with other authors on the necessity of a continuous education program.