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Introduction: Pregnancy is a natural process that may create some changes in different parts of the body including the oral cavity. These changes will lead to oral diseases if enough and timely care of oral cavity is not taken. Women may experience increased gingivitis or pregnancy gingivitis beginning in the second or third month of pregnancy that increases in severity throughout the duration of pregnancy. To motivate the patient toward oral health and implement the needed prophylactic measures, a longitudinal study was planned to observe the effect of oral health education during pregnancy on knowledge, attitude, practice, oral health status, and treatment needs (TNs) of pregnant women belonging to different socioeconomic groups., Materials and Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted among 112 pregnant women belonging to different socioeconomic groups to assess the effect of oral health education on knowledge, attitude, practice, oral health status, and TNs. The demographic details, knowledge, attitude, and practice of pregnant women, and oral health status were collected through a predesigned questionnaire by a principal investigator through an interview. Oral health examination was carried out to assess oral health status using revised World Health Organization Proforma 1997, and oral health education was given through PowerPoint presentation to the participants in local language, i.e., Marathi, after collecting the baseline data. Reinforcement of oral health education and blanket referral was done at 14th week, and follow-up data were collected at 28th week of gestation. The demographic details, such as age, sex, education, occupation, income, and the questions based on knowledge, attitude, and practice among participants were analyzed using number, percentage, and mean., Results: At baseline, knowledge was limited, attitude was positive, while the practice was poor regarding oral health care during pregnancy in pregnant women belonging to different socioeconomic groups. After oral health education and blanket referral, at 28th week of gestation, knowledge regarding oral health care improved drastically, attitude toward oral health became more positive, whereas practice did not change much among all the pregnant women belonging to different socioeconomic groups, probably indicating sociocultural influences., Conclusion: Intensive oral health education during pregnancy leads to drastic improvement in knowledge and attitude. Practice, gingival health, and the number of filled teeth also improved to some extent., Clinical Significance: Regular oral health education programs should be conducted at community level among pregnant woman to reduce the burden of oral diseases.

Introduction: Mishri is one of the form of smokeless tobacco, which is a roasted, powdered preparation made by baking tobacco on a hot metal plate until it is uniformly black, after which it is powdered. It is noted that mishri use is more commonly used by the women of low socioeconomic status, hence the need was felt to conduct this study among women mishri users of slums. Also, the consequences of mishri use are little known, hence an effort is made to find out its ill-effect on oral health., Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) among women using mishri regarding its effects on their oral and general health., Materials and Methods: A 6-month KAP study was conducted among 100 women who were using mishri. Snowball sampling was used. Oral examination of the participants was also done for oral potentially malignant disorders, such as leukoplakia, erythroplakia, oral submucous fibrosis, and hyperkeratinized pouch., Results: About 61% of the population used mishri for cleaning the teeth and others used it as quid; 0.85% of the total participants knew that the use of mishri may lead to precancerous lesions/conditions. Only 17% knew that mishri use can cause gum disease; 84% of the population was willing to quit the habit of using mishri., Conclusion: It is concluded that all the participants had poor knowledge. Attitude toward quitting mishri use was found to be good. About 4% of the participants reported about quitting the habit., Clinical Significance: There is need to create awareness regarding harmful effects of mishri usage in this particular area to improve oral health status.