Abstract
Background: Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) is a surgical branch of dentistry that deals with the wide spectrum of diseases, injuries and defects in the maxillofacial region. There are plenty of people who have lack of awareness towards the wide surgical scope provided by OMFS as reported by previous study done in Boston in 1996. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of awareness among the general public and healthcare professionals towards Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery specialty in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). Materials and Methods: A total of 186 standardized questionnaire was distributed to 6 groups of respondents which include laypersons attending HUSM, 4th year dental and medical students, dental officers, medical officers and paramedical workers from various departments such as Emergency department, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) department, medical family clinic and dental clinic of HUSM. Results: The data showed that 100% of students and practitioners had heard of OMFS, whereas only 68.9% of the laypersons have heard of the specialty. Furthermore, only 11.6% of the lay responders had been treated by an OMFS. The full results also suggested that about 50% of laypersons, 35% of medical professionals and 30% of dental professionals had lack of understanding about the range of care provided by OMFS specialty. Conclusion: A thorough education need to be implemented among dental and medical undergraduate students as well as professionals so that they can make a proper referral later on and automatically provide correct information to the laypersons. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 12 No. 02 April13 Page 199-208 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v12i2.14950
Highlights
Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons have unique expertise in the management of maxillofacial trauma due to their background in both dentistry and medicine leading to advanced specialist training in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS)
Materials and Methods This cross sectional study was carried out on a total of 86 randomly selected laypersons attending Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) and 100 of healthcare professionals incorporating of 4th year dental and medical students of USM, dental officers of HUSM dental clinic, medical officers and paramedical workers of HUSM from various department which was proportionately subdivided for each group
Ethical approval was obtained from the Human Ethics Committee of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
Summary
Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons have unique expertise in the management of maxillofacial trauma due to their background in both dentistry and medicine leading to advanced specialist training in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS). The recognition of our specialty and all that we can offer patients is still a mystery to a large number of the general public at large[2] This lack of understanding is even more important when it comes to health professionals. Study done in 1996 revealed that many healthcare professionals still had lack of awareness about the wide scope of surgical procedures that OMFS has to offer[4]. It is vital that both the medical and dental communities, as well as the public, become better educated about the scope of OMFS The full results suggested that about 50% of laypersons, 35% of medical professionals and 30% of dental professionals had lack of understanding about the range of care provided by OMFS specialty. Conclusion: A thorough education need to be implemented among dental and medical undergraduate students as well as professionals so that they can make a proper referral later on and automatically provide correct information to the laypersons
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