<p> Primary care providers have not customarily provided oral assessments or offered anticipatory guidance about oral health care; dentists manage that task. Myths and access-to-care issues often result in limited or no dental care during pregnancy. Improving the oral health of pregnant women has a positive correlation with fewer dental caries in their children. Currently, evidence-based practice (EBP) oral health guidelines exist for pregnant women and children. While health care providers (HCPs) want to implement best practices, they find practice change challenging.</p><p> This project utilizes a planned change theory to guide the implementation of oral health guidelines with a methodical approach. Retrospective and prospective chart audits evaluate HCP behavior change. The chart audits reveal HCPs change behaviors after a practice intervention with a Primary Care Oral Assessment Tool (PCOAT), and again after introduction of EBP guidelines. Some changes in provider behavior were statistically and clinically significant.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> pregnancy, pregnant, prenatal, antenatal, dental care, oral health, and practice guidelines</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3663311 |
| Date | 07 July 2015 |
| Creators | Cogil, Christine |
| Publisher | New Mexico State University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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