Oral cancer knowledge and awareness among dental students

Abstract

Aim: To assess the knowledge and attitude of undergraduate dental students about oral cancer. Methods: A cross-sectional, quantitative study was conducted based on a questionnaire containing 15 questions about prevention, clinical aspects, and attitudes towards oral cancer. One hundredthirty-three undergraduate dental students between the second and fifth years were enrolled. The statistical significance was measured by Pearson's chi-square test. Results: There was a predominance of females (58.65%) and most students were between 20 and 30 years of age (75.19%). The risk factors for oral cancer mainly described by the students were smoking (92.48%) and drinking (84.21%). Squamous cell carcinoma was described as the most common type of oral cancer by 48.12% of the students. As much as 53.38% of the participants considered the tongue as the most affected anatomic region, 57.89% reported ulcers as the most frequent clinical aspect, and 44.36% attributed a firm and painless aspect to the regional metastatic lymph nodes. Most students reported regularly conducting a thorough examination of the oral cavity (81.95%). Two of the 15 variables showed differences between the students, according to the school time: previous head and neck carcinoma (Pearson's chi-square, p = 0.03) and guidance on the discontinuation of harmful habits (Pearson's chi-square, p = 0.02). Conclusions: Students have a good knowledge of the etiology of oral cancer and are apparently alert in their examinations. The clinical aspects of the oral carcinoma, however, are not so clear. The difference regarding knowledge and attitudes towards oral cancer was minimal when different undergraduate years were considered. It is necessary to implement the clinical suspicion of oral cancer throughout the undergraduate course to enable awareness and early diagnosis.

Assessing oral cancer awareness among dental and medical students of a Malaysian private university

“…The study identified an inequality in gender distribution, with a majority of students in both the medical and dental fields being female, similarly to previous studies conducted in Malaysian public universities. This trend, noted internationally, has not changed much from previous studies. Also similarly to previous studies conducted in Malaysian public universities, the group of medical students was larger than that of dental students, possibly because Malaysian universities usually have a much larger intake of medical students than dental students.…”

“…On the other hand, 83% of dental students agreed that oral cancer risk increases with age, compared with 62.1% in Keser et al . and 28.6% in Soares et al …”

“…Therefore, their knowledge of oral cancer needs to be constantly upgraded. Studies conducted on oral cancer knowledge and awareness among dental and medical students are well documented across various countries but few such studies have been carried out in Malaysian public universities. Moreover, GLOBOCAN 2018 prediction data shows an overall increase in the incidence and mortality of cancer of the lip and oral cavity by 2040 for most of the South‐East Asian countries.…”

Comparative study of knowledge about oral cancer among undergraduate dental students

“…(17) In another study, the level of knowledge of third and fifth year dentistry students was better than those of the first-year students. (18) In the present study, there was a significant concordance in the answer frequency order observed among students of the first and seventh semesters.…”

Knowledge Assessment of Undergraduate Dental Students about Oral Cancer -An Institutional Study

“…Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) makes about 95 % of oral cancers. [1] Tobacco consumption with or without alcohol have been proved to be the main etiologic agents of SCC, which is avoidable. [2,3] Even though SCC can easily be detected in routine oral examinations, lack of knowledge of doctors compounded by patients negligence, results in the detection of cancer at later stages, thus reducing the survival rates.…”