الفهرس 
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Abstract
Mothers form a precious and sensitive segment of the society. They are truly called ”Mothers of the Nation”. During pregnancy they are exposed to many health problems. Among these are affections of the gingiva and teeth as a result of neglect of proper oral hygiene practices and the changes which take place in the gingiva due to circulating hormones. Gingivitis, is the early stage of the Periodon titis. Oingivi tis does not always develop into periodontitis, but periodonti tis always starts as gingi vi tis. Bad oral hygiene leads to bacterial plqaue which is the primary cause of ginr,ivi tis. Pregnancy does not cause gingival disease but it aggravates the response to bacterial plaque and creates severe gingi val changes. If at the out set of pregnancy, gingival inflammation is eliminated and effective oral hygiene regimen is established there will be little or no gingi val disease throughout the pregnancy. The aim of this study is development and appraisal of the effect of dental heealth education program on knowledge, attitude, behavior and oral health condition of pregnant mothers. The work was conducted on 400 pregnant mothers attendin~ two M.C.R. Centres in Alexandria - 200 mothers from each centre. One sample of mothers were selected as ~e experimental p,roup and the other sample as controls. The experimental group was devided into four groups each of fifty mothers, for the dental health education program. The , . dental health education program consisted of lectures, demonstrations, distribution of toothpaste and toothbrushes and presentation of films. Base-Line data were collected through interview questionnaire for defining knowledge, a tti tude, and oral hygiene practi ces of the two groups. Oral examination was carried on all members of the two groups and Oral Hygiene Index OHI-s and Gingival Index G. I. were calculated. The experimental group alone and not the controls were exposed to den tal health education program. The program was covered in eight lectures and each lecture was 45 minutes. Oral health knowledge, attitudes and practices were collected from all participants before and after the implementation of the program (pre-test and post-test) . The DROP-outs were 22 mothers in the experimental group and 8 mothers in the controls. Data were analysed, tabulated and tests of significance and correlations were calculated for the two groups. The study has yielded the following results: 1 The dental health education program was effective in improving the knowledge of the experimental group. It arroused their interest toward oral hygiene and motivated them for preventive measures such as seeking advice of dentist for prophylaxis and treatment. 2 The level of knowledge about oral hygiene in the pre-test was the same among the experimental and control groups. They scored mostly less than 30. After the program (post-test) the level of knowledge markedly increased among the experimental group up to 50 and in some mothers over 85, while no change occurred among . the controls. 3 The experimental gro¥p realised the value of good dietary habits and nutrition containing the basic requirements, fresh vegetables and fruits. They also appreciated the dangers of excessive sweets aQd snacks ia between meals. The prevalence of gingiviti~ was 100 among the experimental group before the program (19.76 mild, 49.44 moderate and 30.89 severe) . After the program the percentages were 21.8, 51.69 and 26.51 respectively. This means there was improvement in oral hygiene condition: The mean Debris Index (D.I.) was reduced from 2.737 to 2.522 and the mean Calculus Index (C.I.) was re du ced from 1.546 to 1.329 i.e. the mean Oral Hygiene Index (O.H.I.) was reduced from 4.283 to 3.852. While in the control group the prevalence of gingivitis was 96.87 at the pre-test examination (3.13 healthy, 11.44 mild, 42 .18 moderate and 43.25 severe) and at the post-test examination the prevalence increased to 97.92 (2.08, 10.92, 38.03 and 48.97 respectively). In other words the severity of gingivitis decreased among the experimental group while increased among the control group. Though improvement of gingival condition among the experimental group was slight but in fact is significant when compared with the increased Gingi val Index mean among the control group. 5 The study also showed ~hat the gingival condition significantly correlate with the oral hygiene condition, the socio-economic level, the number of pregnancies, the level of dental knowledge, and method of toothbrushing. In summary the dental health education program was successful for . the experimental group.