Dental students’ comfort discussing nutrition and obesity prevention with parents and caregivers

Abstract

Dentists can address childhood obesity by educating patients about mediating factors, such as nutrition and dietary habits, facilitating behavioral interventions, and participating in interprofessional collaborations. Dental schools are encouraged to prepare future dentists to address childhood obesity. The aim of this study was to assess dental students' attitudes, comfort, and perceived barriers discussing nutrition and obesity prevention with parents and caregivers of children aged 0-5, after a one-time service-learning experience in a pediatric primary care setting to promote oral health.Methods: Following conversations with parents and caregivers, students completed an 11-item survey via Qualtrics.Results: Of 144 second-year dental students that participated in the servicelearning experience over 2 years, 101 participated in the survey for a response rate of 70.1%. Most students agreed that dentists' roles include discussing nutrition (98.0%) and obesity prevention (83.2%). During the service-learning experience, 78.2 percent of students discussed nutrition, and 5.0% discussed obesity prevention, with 3.0% and 22.8% of students reporting some level of discomfort with each topic, respectively. The most reported barriers for discussing both nutrition and obesity prevention were concern for "appearing judgmental" and "fear of offending clients." Mean comfort scores among students who reported barriers of "appearing judgmental" (p = < 0.0001) and "fear of offending clients" (p = 0.017) for nutrition discussions, and a "lack of parental acceptance of guidance" as a barrier for discussing obesity prevention (p = 0.016), suggest that those barriers were associated with less comfort. Conclusion: Dental students' perceived barriers to discussing nutrition and obesity prevention with parents and caregivers may negatively influence dental students' comfort.

Public and dental teams' views about weight management interventions in dental health settings: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Twenty‐eight studies [13,684 participants] were eligible for inclusion in quantitative data analysis with 22 suitable for proportional meta‐analysis 22–42 . The remaining six studies are summarized and analyzed descriptively 43–48 .…”

An Exploration of Black Men’s Attitudes and Experiences Communicating with Dentists about Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer

“…Taken together, previous research indicates that OPC-related communication among dentists is poor to begin with [12][13][14][15][16], and health-related communication in general, including OPC-related communication, is even poorer when it involves Black men [6,7,11]-which directly contributes to disparities in OPCs. The complexities of dentists' and patients' discomfort warrant an in-depth exploration of how systems and provider communication should be targeted by multilevel anti-racist interventions, which may alleviate inequities in OPC survival.…”

“…Even when race is not taken into consideration, dentists do not routinely engage in OPC discussions or screening due to structural inequities such as dentists' lack of training to address their own discomfort, confidence, limited clinical time to discuss OPCs, and a lack of dental insurance reimbursement for OPC screening [12,13]. Another barrier to communication about OPCs is that discussing OPC risk factors of alcohol use, tobacco use, diet and nutrition, and human papillomavirus (HPV) may be uncomfortable for patients and dentists [14][15][16]. For example, a study by Raja and colleagues concluded that dental patients were less comfortable discussing trauma, stress, coping, and living and behavioral patterns than basic demographic information, which has implications for improving dental providers' understanding of how social determinants may increase patients' risk for OPCs [17].…”