International Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences 10 International Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences Online ISSN: 2664-9195, Print ISSN: 2664-9187 Received: 17-12-2019; Accepted: 01-01-2020; Published: 05-06-2020 www.nursingjournals.net Volume 2; Issue 1; January 2020; Page No. 10-15 Oral and dental care practices and attitude of pregnant women in lalitpur, Nepal Mamata Sherpa Awasthi 1 , Kiran Raj Awasthi 2* , Bhuvan Saud 3 , Bibhav Adhikari 4 , Sita Kumari Rai Koirala 5 , Parbati Datheputhe 6 , Madhavi Gautam Ghimire 7 , Chandika Suwal 8 , Laxmi Khadka 9 , Deeka Prajapati 10 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 Department of Nursing, Janamaitri Foundation Institute of Health Sciences, Hattiban, Lalitpur, Nepal 2 Health and Development Society Nepal, Nepal 3 Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Janamaitri Foundation Institute of Health Sciences, Hattiban, Lalitpur, Nepal 4 Research Program and Faculty Devlopment Division, Little Angels’ College of Management, Lalitpur, Nepal 5, 7 Lecturer, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Abstract Hormonal changes during pregnancy accelerate estrogen and progesterone which is the main reason for periodontal diseases among pregnant women. Lack of oral hygiene maintenance and decreased awareness of routine professional dental checkup further complicate the oral health problems during pregnancy. Oral health is often neglected during examination and counseling compared to other components during antenatal visit of pregnant women in Nepal. Thus, the aim of present study is to identify the practice and attitude regarding oral and dental hygiene maintenance among pregnant women of Lalitpur district in Nepal. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2019 to February 2020 among 114 pregnant women who attended the out patients department for antenatal checkup at Lubhu Primary Health Care Center and Imadol Health Post, Lalitpur, Nepal. By using a structured questionnaire, an interview was conducted for all the participants of the study and inferential statistics was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that 68.4% of the pregnant women had moderate level of knowledge, 98.2% of the respondents had positive attitude and 92.1% of them had insufficient practice regarding oral hygiene maintenance during pregnancy. The study revealed that there was a significant association between education status of respondents (p=0.001) with the level of knowledge and level of practice (p=0.005). However, no significant association was found between selected socio-demographic variables with the level of attitude regarding maintaining oral hygiene during pregnancy i.e. age, gravida and education. The association between attitude and practice Pearsons’ Correlation(r) was found to be significant (r = 0.214, p=0.020). Although most of the pregnant women in this study exhibit reasonable positive attitude to oral health, it was not revealed in their practices. It is necessary to incorporate oral health as an integral component of routine antenatal checkup and oral health counseling is recommended during the visits. Keywords: oral health, dental care, antenatal, practices, attitude, pregnant women, Nepal 1. Introduction Pregnancy is a special state for women and is associated with a myriad of physiological and emotional changes. Various pathologies and conditions occur in the oral cavity during pregnancy [1] . Pregnancy bring about physical and hormonal changes in a women’s body leading to several oral health problems including gingivitis and even severe periodontal infections [2] . Pregnancy gingivitis has been attributed to the increased secretion of estrogen and progesterone hormones during pregnancy [3, 4] . Periodontal infections during pregnancy do not only affect the mother, but may also have adverse effects to the fetus if left untreated for longer period of time. Numerous studies had shown that maternal periodontitis increases the likelihood of adverse pregnancy outcomes such as premature deliveries, preterm low birth weight and low birth weight infants [5] . American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Periodontology encourage women to consult their dentist or oral health care provider very early into their pregnancy [6, 7] . However, in Nepal the practice of visiting a dental professional during their pregnancy is very poor. Out of the 11.7% of the women had dental visits, among which majority of the respondents owed the visit to some form of oral health problems: 57.1% with gum bleeding, 28.5% with gum bleeding and swelling and 14.2% with gum swelling as a reason for visiting the dentist during this pregnancy [8] . Regular dental check-up for mechanical tooth cleaning and oral hygiene education may diminish the advancement of dental caries and periodontal infections during pregnancy [9] . The main problem in the Nepalese society is the lack of adequate knowledge regarding dental and oral health that often results in inappropriate oral hygiene behavior [10] . Majority of the oral health related problems and associated complications arising during pregnancy can be prevented by reinvigorating pregnant women in their knowledge, attitude and practice regarding oral hygiene maintenance. Such study provides a small insight into the country’s current situation on oral and dental healthcare seeking behavior among pregnant women, and the findings will help to raise awareness on the importance of good oral and dental healthcare not only among pregnant women, but also around the general public [11] . Hence, this study aims to investigate the oral and dental care attitude and practice among pregnant women in Lalitpur, Nepal. 2. Materials and Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used for the