Dental Faculty Knowledge, Attitudes, and Willingness to Treat Pregnant Persons at 2 Institutions

Physiologic and behavioral changes during pregnancy adversely affect oral health. Despite practice guidelines stating that dental care is a safe and necessary part of prenatal care, some dental providers remain reluctant to treat pregnant persons. Only a single investigation (at New York University [NYU]) has evaluated the knowledge, attitudes, and willingness of dental faculty to treat pregnant persons. Faculty affect the treatment preferences of their students and therefore have an outsized influence on prenatal dental care.

We cross-sectionally administered an anonymous 14-item REDCap survey to faculty from the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester (UR), to evaluate their knowledge, attitudes, and willingness to provide dental treatment for pregnant persons. We compared these results against NYU data.

Sixty-five (72.2%) UR faculty completed the survey. Most agreed that women should see a dentist during pregnancy (90.8%) and that dental treatment should be part of prenatal care (98.5%). However, only 47.7% were aware of professional practice guidelines for oral health during pregnancy, and 21.5% reported liability concerns when treating pregnant persons. UR faculty knew more about the relationship between maternal and child oral health than NYU faculty. Using the combined data set (UR + NYU), we found that concern about liability was a significant predictor of unwillingness to treat pregnant persons, and this relationship remained when controlling for knowledge and covariates.

While dental faculty's knowledge and attitudes were generally in line with current guidelines for oral care during pregnancy, 1 in 5 UR faculty reported liability concerns. In the combined data set, we found that those with liability concerns were 5 times more unwilling to provide dental care to pregnant persons. Continuing education based on evidence and current guidelines on oral health in pregnant women should be considered necessary but may be insufficient to improve dental care for pregnant women.Knowledge Transfer Statement:In the United States, only about 50% of pregnant persons report a dental visit during this vulnerable time. Dental faculty members transfer their beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, and willingness to treat pregnant persons to their students. These study results demonstrate that many faculty are unaware of the professional practice guidelines and that knowledge and attitudes affect willingness to treat pregnant persons. Continuing education based on current guidelines for the oral health of pregnant persons is necessary but may be insufficient to affect willingness.