Abstract
Purpose. Hyposalivation influences quality of life and medication compliance. However, oral health knowledge (in general) and knowledge about hyposalivation (in particular) are often lacking in nondental healthcare professional’s curricula. Additionally, hyposalivation has not been adequately studied in young adults. The purpose for this study is twofold: to use an interprofessional educational curriculum to increase nondental healthcare students’ knowledge about oral health and salivary testing and determine whether hyposalivation is different between sexes in young adults.Method. First-year medical and pharmacy students (N=178) learned the process of saliva collection and provided samples in an interprofessional program.Results. There were 14.4% of participants with hyposalivation; 72.0% were female. Males had higher flow rates (P=0.005). There failed to be a significant difference between the sexes with frank hyposalivation. There failed to be a significant difference in hyposalivation and medication use/nonuse.Conclusions. Hyposalivation is a biomedical, public health concern. However, in this young population, there was no significant difference between sexes or in medication use/nonuse. Through participation in the program, the students learned about salivary flow rates and the need for collaboration among professionals to prevent negative impacts of hyposalivation and oral health.
Highlights
Previous researchers have indicated that there is increasing evidence of the association of oral health and general health, oral health education in undergraduate and graduate medical education is lacking [1, 2]
Dental education at one time focused on mechanical techniques and detail, the curriculum has broadened to include sophisticated biomedical concepts, psychosocial concepts, public health epidemiology, oral-systemic science, pain, craniofacial defects, trauma, cancer, and tobacco cessation in a multicultural environment [3]
There were fewer than 10 participants reporting xerostomia
Summary
Previous researchers have indicated that there is increasing evidence of the association of oral health and general health, oral health education in undergraduate and graduate medical education is lacking [1, 2]. The inclusion of oral-systemic science was rated as only somewhat important by 53.7% of responding administrators of nursing, pharmacy, and medical schools. Dental education at one time focused on mechanical techniques and detail, the curriculum has broadened to include sophisticated biomedical concepts, psychosocial concepts, public health epidemiology, oral-systemic science, pain, craniofacial defects, trauma, cancer, and tobacco cessation (among other topics) in a multicultural environment [3]. The broader curriculum has increased referrals from dentistry to other health professions. The old paradigm of a dentist as only a tooth doctor [2] and the historic separation of medical and dental education and patient care [4] have influenced the attitude
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