Oral health status, knowledge and practice among pregnant women attending Omdurman maternity hospital, Sudan.

Good oral health is important in pregnancy but little is known about the oral health and knowledge and practices of pregnant Sudanese women. This cross-sectional study was conducted to address this gap. A sample of 420 pregnant women attending the prenatal clinic at Omdurman maternity hospital were interviewed and examined for caries and periodontal disease. The mean age of the women was 27.1 (SD 5.8) years, 52.4% had > primary school education and 7.1% were employed. Only 12% had a high level of oral health knowledge and 21.2% a positive attitude towards oral health. Most of the women (65.9%) had poor oral health practices; only 10.2% had visited a dentist during pregnancy. On clinical examination, 58.6% had healthy gums while 12.1% had bleeding gums and 22.9% had calculus. The mean decayed, missing and filled teeth value was 1.16 in the age group 16-19 years and 3.49 in age group >/= 20 years. These findings suggest the need for oral health programmes as part of prenatal care for pregnant Sudanese women.