Abstract
Background: The perception and attitude of dental students/graduates regarding diagnosing/managing oral medicine cases are scarcely investigated. Objective: The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the level of confidence in diagnosing/managing cases of oral mucosal lesions and salivary glands hypofunction. Methods: A 29-items questionnaire descriptive survey was distributed among dental interns and sixth-year students in the city of Jeddah during March-April of 2020. Results: A total of 136 (81 interns and 55 sixth-year students) completed the questionnaire, of which 69.9% were from a government school, and 30.1% were from private schools. For oral mucosal lesions [i.e., aphthous/herpes simplex virus ulceration], the majority of government and private schools’ participants reported being confident in their ability to diagnose (88.4% and 87.8%, respectively) and provide treatment (63.2% and 56.1%, respectively). For oral candidiasis, the majority were confident in their ability to diagnose (government: 95.8%; private: 59.1%) and treat (government: 77.9%; private: 65.9%). The confidence in diagnosing lesions suspicious for dysplasia/premalignancy was high in 77.9% of government and 80.5% of private schools. Similar reporting was found regarding salivary hypofunctions (government: 93.7%; private: 90.2%). For the likeness to refer, the majority of participants were likely to refer to oral medicine, as the 1st choice, followed by oral surgery. Conclusion: Dental interns/sixth-year students seemed to have high levels of confidence in diagnosing/managing oral mucosal lesions and salivary hypofunctions. However, the partial participation and the subjectivity of reporting may have hindered capturing the full/precise picture.
Highlights
Oral medicine is defined as a specialty of dentistry focused on the diagnosis and management of oral mucosal lesions, salivary glands dysfunction, and orofacial pain, in addition to dental management of patients with medical complexities [1, 2]
Exposure to clinical cases of oral mucosal lesions was highly reported in participants from government and private schools, while exposure to cases with salivary glands hypofunction was reported to be low in both groups (p=0.003 and p=0.04, respectively) (Fig. 2a and b)
The result of the present study showed that sixth-year dental students and dental interns from both government and private dental schools in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, have generally reported high levels of confidence in diagnosing and managing oral mucosal lesions and salivary glands hypofunctions
Summary
Oral medicine is defined as a specialty of dentistry focused on the diagnosis and management of oral mucosal lesions, salivary glands dysfunction, and orofacial pain, in addition to dental management of patients with medical complexities [1, 2]. Burzynski et al surveyed the perception of graduating dental students on oral cancer education in seven dental schools [8]. The results emphasized the lack of knowledge and skills perceived by graduating students that may translate to subsequent deficiency in oral cancer detection and control in the future practice of these dentists [9 - 12]. The study highlighted the lack of dental education and training in this area and discussed how this might negatively impact the ability of dentists to detect/prevent oral cancer in their communities [13]. Few other singleinstitution studies have investigated dental students’ knowledge and competency in some aspects of oral medications, such as orofacial pain and oral cancer detection [14 - 16]. The perception and attitude of dental students/graduates regarding diagnosing/managing oral medicine cases are scarcely investigated
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