Dental treatment concepts for pregnant patients--results of a survey.
OBJECTIVE
702 dentists in private practices were surveyed about dental treatments of pregnant patients with an anonymous questionnaire.


RESULTS
61.3% of the dentists indicated that they treat pregnant patients, 35.5% postponed treatment to a postnatal time if possible and 3.4% referred these patients to dental clinics. The most frequently occurring treatments measures were pain and emergency treatments in 53.3% of the cases, followed by restorative treatments (42.9%) and oral hygiene measures (39.7%). Only 9.8% of the dentists performed all necessary treatments, 14% were against using an anesthetic during pregnancy. Less than 50% of the dentists indicated they would not perform a treatment in the first trimester and 8.5% said they would not treat in the second trimester.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study shows that only 54.6% of the surveyed dentists felt they were sufficiently informed and educated about the treatment of pregnant patients.
Pistorius
J
J
Institute for Materials Research and Technology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany. pistorius@werkstoffkunde.klinik-uni-mainz.de
Kraft
J
J
Willershausen
B
B
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003625:Data Collection; D003729:Dental Care; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D005260:Female; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists'; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires