0931 Oral hygiene practices, smoking, and oral malodor among pregnant mothers
K. ALMAS, New York University, College of Dentistry, USA, and N. ASHRI, King Saud University, College of Dentistry, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

“Objectives:”, The study was carried out to determine the prevalence of oral hygiene practices, smoking habits, and self-perceived oral malodor among pregnant mothers. “Methods:”, A self-administered questionnaire was developed and distributed among 250 pregnant mothers attending ante-natal clinics, RKH Military hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The instrument included, self-perceived oral malodor, timing of bad breath, cigarette smoking and tea drinking habits, tongue coating, bleeding gums and oral hygiene practices. The data was analyzed with SPSS Version 10. Frequency distributions were generated and the Chi-square test was used with significance level set at 0.05. “Results:”, The response rate was 87%. The age ranged from 18-46 years. Twenty-two percent reported having oral malodor and 61% noticed bad breath after waking up. 11% of the pregnant mothers were cigarette smoker and 81% were regular tea drinker. 50% of the mothers had white/yellow tongue coating and 43% had bleeding gums. 83 % had daily tooth brushing habit and only 26% brushed 3 times daily. Miswak (chewing stick) was used by 69% and 15% of them used it 3 times daily. Mouth rinse was used by 40% and 12% used it thrice daily, while tooth pick was used by 14% and only 5% used it thrice daily. “Conclusion:”, Almost one-fifth of the subjects had self-perceived oral malodor. Tooth brushing and miswak were significantly related with oral malodor (p=0.000). Mouth rinses and tooth picks were not related with oral malodor (p=0.8129 and 0.693 respectively). There is a need for health promotion including tongue cleaning, smoking cessation, and effective plaque control among pregnant mothers. Further research is needed to examine oral malodor clinically and objectively among the studied population

Seq #117 - Malodor, Children, Cancer, Oral Hygiene, Dental Sealants
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Thursday, 10 March 2005 Baltimore Convention Center Exhibit Hall E-F

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