Awareness of oral medicine among medical practitioners, evidence of the unbridged interdisciplinary gap

Abstract

Rationale, aims, and objectives: Inadequate awareness of oral health and related disciplines appears to be common among medical practitioners. This study was designed to evaluate the awareness of oral medicine (OM) specialty and its scope of practice among Jordanian medical practitioners and to outline potential strategies for improvement where appropriate.Method: A specially designed questionnaire was electronically distributed to Jordanian medical practitioners and thereafter via personal interviews to improve the response rate. The questionnaire comprised nine questions and covered demographical details and characteristics of participants, in addition to their awareness of OM and agreement to refer a group of common oral and dental conditions to OM specialists. Pearson Chi-square tests were used to examine the significance of association between the variables of respondents and awareness of OM. Significance level was set at P values < 0.05.Results: A total of 1492 respondents completed the questionnaire, of which 779 (52.2%) were aware of OM as an independent specialty. Age group, higher degrees in medicine, country of graduation, and the specialty type were significant determinants of OM awareness level. Oral ulceration and other mucosal pathology, including fungal infections, were the most likely conditions to be referred to OM specialists while participants had apparent problems separating the scope of practice of OM from other dental disciplines. Conclusion:This study provides evidence on the profound interdisciplinary gap between medicine and dentistry and highlights the importance of more focused education and training in oral health-related disciplines to be provided to clinicians and medical trainees as described.

The Value of the Oral Medicine Specialty in the Modern Healthcare Systems

“…Within this study, Almazrooa et al [8] found the following to be most challenging for Saudi Arabian physicians to diagnose and/or manage: nonspecific oral ulcers, oral lichen planus/lichenoid reactions, graft-versus-host disease, potentially malignant oral lesions, and vesiculobullous diseases. The findings from Alrashdan et al [17] agree with this sentiment, indicating that oral ulcers have the highest rate of physician referral to oral medicine (72%) followed by white or red lesions (66%).…”

“…There appears to be a distinct lack of awareness or understanding of the oral medicine profession among medical service providers in the Middle East. Alrashdan et al [17] carried out a study to this effect in Jordan. Of the 1,492 physicians interviewed, only 52% were even aware that oral medicine was an independent specialty.…”

Associations between depression and gingivitis among adolescents resident in semi-urban South-West Nigeria

“…While dentists and dental care specialists are able to detect periodontal disease during clinical evaluations, non-dental medical practitioners are much less likely to evaluate or diagnose periodontal diseases [27]. Identifying health symptoms that are indicative of periodontal diseases may help increase the index of suspicion among medical practitioners, thereby potentially intercepting a lifetime risk of systematic diseases.…”

Knowledge and awareness about dentistry among medical students, residents, and medical practitioners in Bhairahawa city, Nepal

“…Moreover, the lack of distinction between the scope of dental specialists and other closely-related dental disciplines among referring clinicians is likely to result in significant delays in the referral to dental clinics and thus could worsen the prognosis for many conditions or at least affect the oral health-related quality of life. [ 6 ]…”