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Background: Pregnant women are vulnerable to a wide range of oral health conditions that could be harmful to their own health and future child. Despite the usefulness of regular dental service utilization in prevention and early detection of oral diseases, it is notably low among pregnant women. In this qualitative study, we aimed to explore barriers and facilitators influencing pregnant women's dental service utilization., Methods: Using a triangulation approach, we included pregnant women (n = 22) from two public health centers, midwives (n = 8) and dentists (n = 12) from 12 other public centers in Tehran (Iran). Data was gathered through face-to-face semi-structured interviewing and focus group discussion methods. The analysis of qualitative data was performed using conventional content analysis with MAXQDA10 software., Results: Reported barriers of dental service utilization among pregnant women were categorized under emerging themes: Lack of knowledge and misbelief, cost of dental care, physiological changes, fear and other psychological conditions, time constraint, dentists' unwillingness to accept pregnant women treatment, cultural taboos and lack of interprofessional collaboration. Solutions proposed by dentists, midwives and pregnant women to improve dental care utilization during pregnancy were categorized under three themes: Provision of knowledge, financial support and establishing supportive policies., Conclusions: Understanding perceived barriers of dental service utilization during pregnancy can serve as baseline information for planning and formulating appropriate oral health education, financial support, and legislations tailored for lower income pregnant women, midwives and dentists in countries with developing oral health care system.

Background: The majority of young children receive no early dental examination while attending primary health care for routine check-ups. Our aim was to study primary care nurses' knowledge of oral health care (OHC) and their attitudes toward delivering OHC, as well as to assess their willingness to obtain OHC information., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of all primary-care nurses working in the public health centres of Tehran city. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire queried their knowledge in paediatric-, general and medicine-related areas of dentistry, providing knowledge scores for three domains. The nurses' attitudes toward OHC and their willingness to obtain OHC information underwent evaluation with statements utilizing a five-point Likert scale. Altogether 680 nurses took part in the survey. The Chi-square test, t-test, one-way ANOVA and logistic regression model served for statistical analyses., Result: The mean score for the paediatric dentistry domain (3.6, SD: 1.5) was lower than for the medical (4.4, SD: 2.3) and dental domains (5.8, SD: 1.5). Obtaining higher scores in the paediatric (OR = 1.2) and dental (OR = 1.3) domains, and a greater willingness to receive OHC information (OR = 5.3), were associated with a positive attitude toward OHC. Nurses with a lower education (OR = 1.9) and better oral health behaviour (OR = 1.1) as well as those working in a non-affluent region (OR = 1.6) had a more positive attitude toward OHC., Conclusion: Primary care nurses' low level of knowledge in OHC and their positive attitude and willingness to obtain more information point to the need for appropriate OHC training and encouragement for the nurses to promote oral health and prevent dental diseases.

Background Given that one of the targets of Global oral health care goals in 2020 is to increase the proportion of the population covered by health care information systems, the future dentists should be more oriented about Information Technology (IT) to help the health systems in reaching this goal. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utilization of IT among senior dental students and to evaluate the association of self-reported skills with utilization of IT. Methods The target population comprised senior dental students of all four dental schools of Tehran City in 2015. An anonymous selfadministered questionnaire queried their utilization of IT in four areas: general use of computers, general use of internet, professional use of computers, and professional use of internet. In addition, the students self-reported IT skill was obtained in two areas: internet searching skills and computer using skills. Background questions were also asked. Results Totally, 218 questionnaires out of 250 were returned for an overall response rate of 85%. The students' mean score for professional usage of computer was 15.3 (± 4.2) out of 30 and for professional usage of internet 10.8 (± 3.1) out of 20. The mean score for general usage of computers was 22.6 (± 5.4) out of 40 and for general usage of internet 46.1 (± 13.2) of 80. About computer skills, a mean of 18.6 (±4) out of 28 and internet searching skills a mean of 15.3 (±4) out of 24 was acquired. The linear regression model revealed that older student (regression coefficients = 0.325, P = 0.001) and those with higher computer using skills (regression coefficients = 0.223, P = 0.031) and internet searching skills (regression coefficients = 0.220, P = 0.027) obtained higher scores in general usage of IT. Also higher research experience gained was associated with higher scores in professional usage of IT (regression coefficients = -0.378, P =0.02). Conclusion IT utilization and skills were not desirable in present students. The fact that IT skills were associated with a higher IT utilization regardless of other background factors casts light on the importance of training to facilitate full utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between plaque and caries in older children and adults has been poor, however, some studies show that there may be a relationship in younger children. The aim was to study the relationships between dental caries and dental plaque among 12-36-month-olds in Tehran, Iran. A cross-sectional study among a stratified random sample of 504 children aged one to three years from 18 public health centres in Tehran. Mothers were interviewed about their child's date and order of birth, gender, primary caregiver, the mother's age and the educational level of both parents. Dental examination was carried out according to the WHO criteria. Early childhood caries (ECC) was defined as the presence of any dmf teeth. Dental plaque was visually inspected on the labial surfaces of upper central incisors. Data analysis included Chi-square test, t -test, anova and logistic regression modelling. The prevalence of ECC ranged from 3 to 33% depending on age group, with a mean dt of 1.1 for 26- to 36-month-olds. No gender-differences existed in ECC prevalence and mean dt. Dental plaque was visible on at least one index tooth for 65-75% of the children. Presence of ECC was related to the presence of dental plaque (OR = 1.5; 95% CI 1.0-2.3) when controlling for background factors by means of logistic regression. The high occurrence of visible plaque and rather high ECC prevalence call for improvement in oral health promotion programs of the children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]