Oral Medicine Experience and Attitudes Toward Oral Cancer: An Evaluation of Dentists Working in Primary Health Care.

This analytical, cross-sectional, observational study aimed to evaluate the perception of dentists working at the public system of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, regarding academic training to treat oral lesions, adoption of preventive measures for oral cancer, and attitude toward the need to perform oral biopsies. The sample consisted of questionnaires filled out by 192 dentists (153 women and 39 men) working in primary health care who participated in training activities on oral cancer diagnosis in July 2016. To enroll in the training activities, the professionals completed an online questionnaire to evaluate their perceptions regarding oral cancer issues. With respect to preventive measures, 96.88% of dentists reported performing full mouth examination, 87.50% reported providing tobacco cessation counseling, and 51.04% reported giving advice on excessive alcohol consumption. In addition, 72.40% and 44.79% of dentists considered, respectively, clinical training and theory instruction in oral medicine to be insufficient during undergraduate school. Only 8.33% reported performing biopsies in daily clinical routine, and almost 90% reported referring the patient to a specialist from the public system or universities. Lack of experience was the main reason not to perform a biopsy. The dentists in our sample recognize the importance of preventive measures for oral cancer, but few of them perform biopsies regularly. Therefore, there is a need for continuing education actions including practical training.

An analysis of the completeness of referral forms and cases evaluated by an oral medicine specialized service

Introduction: Oral lesions are present in approximately 30% of the population worldwide. Although the mouth is an anatomical region that can be easily accessed for direct visual examination, most dentists of dental surgeons have reported difficulties in the diagnosis and management of oral diseases. The primary aim of this study was to assess the completeness of referral forms of the patients referred by dentists from the primary care basic health units to an Oral Medicine service. The secondary aim was to analyze if the complexity of the cases justify the referral to a specialist. Methods: Data from 131 referral forms of patients referred from June 2014 to April 2016 were retrieved from the records. The referral's completeness analysis comprised two stages. Stage 1 mainly comprised patient and applicant's information. In the Stage 2, the documents were scored according to amount of information, including the description of the lesion characteristics and the procedures required for the patients' diagnosis and management. The referral was considered justifiable if some procedures not available at primary care were required for diagnosis or treatment. Results: Five (9.8%) referral forms were considered well filled. Diagnosis agreement was 71.4%. Regarding the need of referral, 40,6% of the cases (n = 50) could be settle at the primary care. Conclusion: In conclusion, few referral forms had high-quality information and the many cases could be managed at primary care health services. (AU)