Philips introduces its new Maternal Health Toolkit, designed to help dental professionals support patients during pregnancy.
Philips has created a Maternal Health Toolkit to help support dental professionals to guide patients through pregnancy. The resources can be found on a maternal health landing page on the Philips website. Via materials designed for dental practices, they are packed with information to help clinicians steer vital conversations.
These materials are designed to support expectant mothers in a number of ways by:
- Raising awareness about the significance of the oral systemic link in pregnancy from a medical and dental perspective
- Educating them on the oral systemic link in the context of pregnancy
- Providing dental professionals with the means to discuss oral systemic links in pregnancy with expectant patients in their care.
‘Many patients do not think of oral health as an integral part of their prenatal care plan,’ says Emilee Walby, Philips Professional marketing manager. ‘Philips takes a holistic view of patient health. We know that dental professionals are essential contributors to supporting their patients through their life stages – a critical one being pregnancy. The Maternal Health Toolkit outlines the importance of oral health care during pregnancy, and conveys how to apply this knowledge with patients in the practice.’
The link between oral health and pregnancy outcomes
Current research has demonstrated that poor oral health is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. This is corroborated in a study conducted by Philips. The organisation partnered with the Helping Appalachian Parents and Infants (HAPI) public health initiative. This enrolled pregnant women in West Virginia at increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. It incorporated an oral health component, which included provision of a powered toothbrush.
The data from this study is observational and spans the time period of 2005 to 2017. Results from this public health initiative demonstrate that improved oral health (supported by the use of a Sonicare power toothbrush) contributed to lower rates of both pre-term births. It was also associated with fewer low birth-weight babies compared with state averages. Philips is now activating the learnings from this study in dental practices by helping dental professionals to understand their crucial role in pre-natal health education.
As part of this campaign Philips has developed an on-demand webinar called ‘Breaking barriers in prenatal care: the importance of oral health care in pregnant patients from medical and dental perspectives’. The webinar equips clinicians with strategies to use in daily practice to effectively manage oral healthcare of expectant mothers.
Dental professionals can guide patients towards downloading a Philips developed app. Here, expectant mothers can learn about the changes they can expect during pregnancy. The in-clinic materials include a QR code, which parents can scan to download the Pregnancy+ app for expert advice and week-by-week pregnancy information.
Find out more about the Philips Maternal Health Toolkit.
This article is sponsored by Philips.
