Atenção odontológica precoce: conhecimento das gestantes usuárias do serviço público e privado

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the pregnant women’s level of knowledge in public and private service in relation to the baby’s oral health care. Methodology: A questionnaire was applied to characterize the socio-economic aspect and the oral health care of 120 pregnant women. The data were submitted to statistical and inferential analysis through the Chi-square or Fisher's exact test and Student's t test using SPSS. Results: It was observed that pregnant women in the private sector were more assertive in relation to the public sector when they were questioned about the outset of the baby’s oral hygiene and how to do it (p = 0.02), (p <0.001). Regarding the use of dental floss, 50% (n = 30) of public service pregnant women and 13.3% (n = 8) in the private sector do not use it in the primary dentition (p <0.001). The users of public service believe it's not necessary the maximum delay in the inclusion of sugar in baby feeding when compared with the private sector. Concerning the beginning of the use of glass, 18 (30%) pregnant women of the public and 31 (51.7%) of the private service initiate its use after six months (p = 0.016). Conclusion: Pregnant women coming from the public sector showed a greater ignorance in relation to the private sector, regarding the early attention in Dentistry, but issues such as cariogenic potential of milk and early dental care were unknown in both groups.