Dental Care in High-Risk Pregnancy: A Scoping Review.

OBJECTIVES

To map evidence on dental care and oral health conditions among women with high-risk pregnancies, identifying care settings, clinical approaches, and knowledge gaps relevant to oral health practice.

METHODS

This scoping review followed PRISMA-ScR guidelines and was registered in the Open Science Framework. PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, SciELO, LILACS, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched without language or publication-year restrictions. Eligible human studies included pregnant women explicitly classified as high-risk and addressed oral health conditions or dental care assessed or provided by licensed dentists.

RESULTS

Of 970 records identified, five observational studies met the eligibility criteria. The studies were conducted in Brazil and India and included 1985 high-risk pregnant women receiving care in primary, specialized outpatient, or hospital settings. Periodontal disease and untreated dental caries were prevalent. One study reported a significant association between periodontitis and preeclampsia. Limited access to dental services, insufficient prenatal dental counseling, and organizational barriers were also identified.

CONCLUSION

Evidence on dental care in high-risk pregnancy is limited and heterogeneous and focuses mainly on oral disease prevalence and access to care rather than clinical management protocols. Greater integration of oral health into risk-stratified prenatal care and research on dental management strategies are needed.