SYSTEMIC EVALUATION AND GOOD PRACTICE OF THE SURGICAL PATIENT IN PREGNANCY: NARRATIVE REVIEW

I. Catalano ^1*§, C. Annicchiarico¹, A. Annicchiarico^2§ and A. Coppola³

¹ Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy;
² University of Bari “A. Moro”, Bari, Italy;
³ Independent Researcher, Naples, Italy.

*Correspondence to:
Irene Catalano,
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine,
University of Foggia,
71122 Foggia, Italy.
e-mail: irecata@icluod.com

§ Equal contribution

Received: 03 March, 2025 Accepted: 30 April, 2025

ISSN 2975-044X (online) ISSN 2038-4106 (print) Copyright © by BIOLIFE 2025 This publication and/or article is for individual use only and may not be further reproduced without written permission from the copyright holder. Unauthorized reproduction may result in financial and other penalties. Disclosure: All authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

ABSTRACT

Objective: The study aims to review the international scientific literature on dentistry and pregnancy, with the aim of assessing:  the most common oral diseases during pregnancy, their causes and risk factors;  the relationship between oral diseases and complications for mother and newborn;   diagnostic procedures, safe dental and pharmacological treatments during pregnancy, including any contraindications;   precautions to be taken by the dentist during oral procedures. Methods: The research was conducted using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and non-MeSH words, combined via Boolean operators (“AND”, “OR”), to search for articles on pregnancy, pregnant patients, dentistry, dental care, oral hygiene, periodontitis and periodontal disease. Results: The research selected 146 relevant articles, with a focus on 46 with more scientific evidence, on topics such as dentists’ knowledge of pregnancy and oral diseases, excluding less relevant articles or with less scientific evidence. Conclusions: Out of a total of 146 articles on pregnancy dentistry, only 46 were evaluated for their high scientific evidence. We can conclude that the review provides an updated and useful summary for clinical practice and research, covering professional preparation, oral health and perinatal complications, and clinical management of pregnant patients.

KEYWORDS: Pregnancy, dental treatment, oral health, mother, newborn