Dental care for pregnant women: knowledge and practice of public health dentists and their role in rede cegonha (stork network)

Aim: To verify the knowledge and practice of public dentists from a medium-sized municipality in the South of Brazil, regarding the dental care provided to pregnant women. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. A total of 42 dentists were interviewed, working in the Primary Care and Dental Specialties Center of the municipality. For data collection, a questionnaire, consisting of seven items related to the sociodemographic profile and 21 questions related to dental care provided to pregnant women, was applied. Results: The profile of professionals was predominantly female, who were specialists, trained in a private institution, and who provided dental services in the public and private spheres. In general, the identified knowledge was satisfactory, and the dental practice indexes were lower. However, gaps in relation to the use of some medications were identified. Regarding the practice, it was observed that although the professionals agreed to perform less invasive procedures, they did show some resistance to performing tooth extractions and X-rays. When comparing the results considering the level of attention, no statistical difference regarding knowledge was observed (p = 0.161). However, a statistically significant difference was found in the practice of dental care (p < 0.001), with the highest result appearing among professionals working in Basic Health Units. Conclusion: The knowledge indexes regarding prenatal dental care were satisfactory; however, they were not about to be fully reproduced in practice. In this context, the importance of health education for interprofessional work is reinforced in order to improve the oral and systemic health conditions of pregnant women, mothers, and babies.