Dental Screening and Referral during Prenatal Care

Oral health is an important aspect of overall health and should be maintained during pregnancy. Due to complex physiological changes during pregnancy, the pregnant woman is at risk for developing periodontal disease and dental caries which are associated with poor birth outcomes including preterm births and low birthweight infants. Evidence-based guidelines developed by several professional organizations recommend oral screening be included in the first prenatal visit. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement a dental screening tool during prenatal care to identify pregnant patients with oral health needs and provide subsequent referrals to a dentist.

The project was implemented over a 14-week period and included an oral health screening using a valid and reliable tool to identify oral health needs. Patients were screened and received a referral for dental care.

N = 826 pregnant women were screened. Of those screened 36.3% (n = 300) had not had their teeth cleaned in the past 12 months. More than 30% of pregnant patients (n = 316) reported some type of dental problem, 29.5% (n = 244) were screened during the first prenatal visit, and 36.7% (n = 303) were enrolled in Medicaid. At project completion, 74.6% (n = 616) of patients received dental referrals.

Conducting oral health screenings during the first prenatal visit is important for identifying pregnant women at risk for oral health problems and improving birth outcomes and allows the patient time to visit the dentist prior to birth. Integration of an oral health screening and referral process can be successfully implemented during prenatal care to meet the needs of childbearing women.