Dental Hygiene, Dental, and Medical Students’ OMFS/Hospital Dentistry‐Related Knowledge/Skills, Attitudes, and Behavior: An Exploration

Abstract

Engaging other health care providers in oral health-related activities and interprofessional care (IPC) could increase access to oral health care for underserved populations in the U.S. The aims of this study were to assess dental hygiene, dental, and medical students' intra-and interprofessional and oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS)/hospital dentistry-related knowledge/skills, attitudes, and behavior; determine whether first and second year vs. third and fourth year cohorts' responses differed; and explore how intra-and interprofessional knowledge was related to interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional attitudes and behavior. Data were collected between April 2014 and May 2015 from 69 dental hygiene, 316 dental, and 187 medical students. Response rates across classes for the dental hygiene students ranged from 85% to 100%; 24% to 100% for the dental students; and 13% to 35% for the medical students. The results showed that the medical students had lower oral healthrelated and interprofessional knowledge and less positive attitudes about oral health-related behavior, IPE, and interprofessional teamwork than the dental hygiene and dental students. While third-and fourth-year medical students' interprofessional knowledge/skills and behavior were higher than those of first-and second-year students, the two groups' IPE-related and interprofessional attitudes did not differ. The students' knowledge correlated with their IPE and interprofessional communication-related skills and behavior, but not with their interprofessional attitudes. These dental hygiene, dental, and medical students' OMFS/ hospital dentistry-related knowledge/skills and behavior increased over the course of their academic programs, while their IPErelated and intra-and interprofessional attitudes, especially for medical students, did not improve over time. OMFS and hospital dentistry units in medical centers offer distinctive opportunities for IPE and IPC. Utilizing these units may be one way to ensure that graduating providers are motivated to engage in IPC in their practice, thus contributing to reducing oral health disparities and increasing access to oral care for underserved populations.

Dental Medicine Students and the Usage of Additional Supplements for Better Oral Hygiene

“…18 There is a difference in the relation between oral health and hygiene among students of students of dental medicine and students of other faculties. Munz et all 19 showed that the medical students had lower oral health-related and less positive attitudes about oral healthrelated behavior than the dental hygiene and dental students. According to them, third-and fourth-year dental students' knowledge, skills and behavior were higher than those of firstand second-year students.…”

Hospital Dentistry: The Swiss‐Army Knife of Dental Medicine

“…The vast increase in interdisciplinary teamwork between medicine and dentistry in a hospital setting results in most Hospital Dentists writing progress and plan notes in the patients’ medical charts from a medical providers standpoint. Inter‐professional communication and growth is important for coordinating patient‐centered health care and improving each provider‘s skillset 8 …”

Interprofessional Education in U.S. Dental Hygiene Programs: Program Director Responses Before and After Introduction of CODA Standard 2–15

“…It would be useful to compare our results with findings from other health professions concerning the frequencies with which these programs engage in IPE and with which disciplines they collaborate most often. However, while several studies have assessed students’ IPE‐related attitudes in dentistry, 25 – 29 medicine, 22 , 25 , 30 nursing, 27 , 31 – 33 and pharmacy, 26 , 29 the results of studies with program directors or deans are much less available. In 2012, Formicola et al published a survey of dental school deans 15 .…”