Title

Oral health challenges during pregnancy in a semi-urban Indian population: A cross-sectional study in Valanchery, Kerala

Authors

Shradha Anil Kuzhivilayil^1,*, Laxmy Rajmohan² & PV Rahmath Beegam³

Affiliation

¹General Dentist, Government District Hospital, Nilambur, Kerala, India; ²Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Government District Hospital, Nilambur, Kerala, India; ³Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, CH Memorial Hospital, Valanchery, Malappuram, Kerala, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Shradha Anil Kuzhivilayil - E-mail: shradhaanilkuzhivilayil55@gmail.com
Laxmy Rajmohan - E-mail: drlaxmyr@gmail.com
PV Rahmath Beegam - E-mail: rahmathbeegamdr@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received November 15, 2025; Revised December 15, 2025; Accepted December 15, 2025, Published December 15, 2025

Abstract

Pregnancy is often characterized by an extreme physiological and hormonal state that makes them susceptible to oral diseases like gingivitis, caries and periodontitis. Therefore, it is of interest to review the rates and trend of oral health issues in 50 expectant mothers who were being attended to in CH Memorial Hospital, Valanchery, Kerala. Oral health status and behavior were measured using clinical examination and structured questionnaires. There was high prevalence of gingivitis (69%), dental caries (70%) and accumulation of plaque (65%) and low utilization of dental services by people (10%). Thus, we show that the application of oral health screening and education into the routine antenatal care is highly urgent to ensure the well-being of both the fetus and mother.

Keywords

Pregnancy, oral health, gingivitis, dental caries, periodontitis, prenatal care, perinatal outcomes.

Citation

Kuzhivilayil et al. Bioinformation 21(12): 4464-4468 (2025)

Edited by

Vini Mehta

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.