Coverage of the Oral Healthcare services providing for Antenatal mothers in the district of Gampaha, in Sri Lanka

Introduction: Antenatal oral healthcare programme was introduced in Sri Lanka with the collaboration of existing Maternal and Child Health (MCH) programme in 2009 to provide evidence based oral healthcare to all antenatal mothers. Objectives: To assess the coverage of care of the National Programme for providing Oral Healthcare to Pregnant Mothers in the district of Gampaha. Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted during 2013 – 2014 to assess the programme coverage in terms of availability, accessibility and utilization of the services. Information was gathered from document analysis using previous records. A community survey was also conducted among 240 antenatal mothers selected from 20 MCH clinics in the district. Results: The number of registered pregnant mothers per government Dental Surgeon was 916 in the year 2013. The service availability was satisfactory only in four MOH areas out of 15 in the district. The physical accessibility data revealed 67.5% of mothers resided within five kilometers from a government dental clinic, whereas it was 80% from a private dental clinic. The oral screening and treatment completion coverage found were 45% and 15% respectively. Conclusion and recommendation: There is an issue of low „coverage‟ of care in the district. Oral screening coverage could be improved by increasing frequency and number of clinics targeting antenatal mothers. Adequate supervision and regular monitoring and evaluation of the programme at all levels in various stages are essential to improve the coverage of care.