Barriers to dental care among pregnant women in Poland

Objectives: To investigate barriers limiting the uptake of dental services by pregnant women in Poland. Methods: 1398 pregnant women attending women’s clinics and on maternity wards in 8 regions were selected by stratified sampling. Women were invited to complete a questionnaire investigating their experiences of dental treatment during pregnancy. Results: Less than 3/4 of women reported being to the dentist within the last year, with variation between regions (59.3%-77.6%). Only 2.9% of women had been referred by their gynaecologist to a dental office providing priority care for expectant mothers after confirmation of pregnancy; 5.7% had been referred to a dental office not providing priority care, while over 20% had been advised to arrange their own dental care. Over 22% of women sought help on their own initiative. Of those women who received dental care, under 20% had been given oral health education by a dentist/hygienist. In spite of perceiving a need for treatment, over 1/3 of women declared delaying visits to the dentist. The most common reasons for this were economic ones and fear of experiencing pain during the visit. Over 60% reported being unable to afford private dental care and long waiting lists at public clinics, while 36% were unable to have the necessary procedure done in the public sector. Conclusions: The Polish dental care system does not treat expectant mothers as a priority group. The lack of easily accessible and affordable preventive and treatment measures for this group is an important issue which needs to be addressed.