International Journal of Dental Sciences

Authors
Bambang Hadi Sugito, Ida Chairanna, Agus Marijanto

Abstract
Background: Dental and oral health is one of the important things that needs to be considered during pregnancy, this is because pregnant women are one of the groups that are susceptible to dental and oral diseases. During pregnancy, pain caused by dental caries makes pregnant women do not want to eat and lead to insufficient nutrition which results in low birth weight (LBW) babies. The proportion of dental and oral problems at 57.6% and 10.2% receiving services from dental health personnel. The proportion of correct in tooth brushing behavior is 2.8%. There are so much people who experience dental and oral health problems in all different age, include pregnant women. Objective: The objective of this literature is to determine the potential of the dental health cadres empowerment program for the maintenance of dental health for pregnant women. Discussion: The formation of dental health cadres is a form of community empowerment strategy in developing human resources. Community empowerment efforts are a process of becoming independent and increasing the ability to maintain oral and dental health. It is hoped that this can be used as a solution to overcome dental and oral health problems. Conclusion: The dental health cadre empowerment program has the potential to help maintain the dental health of pregnant women so that it can be used as an effort to reduce caries rates in pregnant women.