Prenatal oral health education in U.S. OB/Gyn residency programs and dental schools

Background: Pregnant women represent a special population within oral health care. Adverse pregnancy outcomes and increased infant caries can occur when prenatal oral disease is not addressed. Currently, medical and dental clinicians are not meeting the oral health needs of pregnant patients.

Methods: We conducted a national survey of 240 U.S. OB/Gyn residency program directors and 60 U.S. dental school deans. Questions assessed the number of hours of prenatal oral health (POH) education, topics addressed, awareness of guidelines, and barriers to including more POH training.

Results: Most dental schools provide some POH education, with 61% of schools offering 3+ hours. Only 39% of OB/Gyn residencies provide some POH education, most only 1-2 hours. 65% of dental programs and 45% of OB/Gyn residencies are aware of current POH evidence-based guidelines. Those OB/Gyn residency programs with POH training were three times as likely to expose their residents to these guidelines. A similar trend was observed for dental schools. Barriers to POH education include space in the curriculum and competing clinical priorities. 76% of Ob/Gyn directors affirmed the importance of addressing oral health needs among prenatal patients; however, only 23% agreed that the ACGME should add POH competencies.

Conclusions: Less than half of OB/Gyn residencies included POH in their curriculum. Most dental schools included at least three hours. Awareness of and exposure of students/residents to guidelines were associated with more training hours. Those dental and OB/Gyn programs with few or no POH training are less likely to be influenced by a formal policy.