Oral potentially malignant disorders - An assessment of knowledge and attitude to future education in undergraduate dental students.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and clinical experience of oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) in undergraduate dental students in six European countries (Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom) and assess student's attitude and preference to future education on the topic. A secondary aim was to identify gaps in student's knowledge and clinical practice. The study was a part of the Erasmus+ project "Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders: Healthcare Professionals Training" (Grant No: 2020-1-UK01-KA202-078917). MATERIALS AND METHODS: An online questionnaire was distributed to all final-year students in six partner universities. This consisted of four parts assessing: (1) knowledge on OPMDs, (2) clinical experience with this group of patients, (3) self-rated competence in the management of OPMDs and (4) preferences with regard to future education. RESULTS: Two hundred and sixty final-year dental students from six partner universities responded to the questionnaire. Response rates varied from 12% to 92% between partner universities. Significant differences in clinical experience and knowledge were found between students. Students with more clinical exposure to OPMDs rated their knowledge and competence in the management of OPMDs higher than students with less clinical experience. The majority of students were interested in future education on OPMDs, preferably via short educational videos. CONCLUSION: The majority of students have received theoretical knowledge of OPMDs during their undergraduate studies, however, not all had clinical exposure to this group of patients. Students were open to further education on OPMDs. Important deficiencies in knowledge were identified that need to be addressed and it is anticipated that the e-learning platform and e-book that are in development by partner institutions will help to improve overall knowledge of OPMDs.

Clinicopathologic aspects of oral leukoplakia in smokers and nonsmokers.

OBJECTIVE: The present study assessed possible clinicopathologic differences between oral leukoplakia in current smokers and never-smokers. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study of 52 patients with oral leukoplakia. Clinical and pathologic data (age, sex, lesion size, lesion location, and presence/absence of dysplasia) were compared between 41 current-smoking patients and 11 never-smoking patients. RESULTS: The mean age of the smoking patients was 49 yrs, significantly lower than the never-smoking patients (59 yrs) (P < .05). The proportion of women was markedly and significantly higher in the never-smoker group than in the smoker group (82% vs. 22%). The odds ratio for lesions on the tongue (0.80, 95% CI 0.01-0.37) was statistically significant at the 5% level (i.e., 95% CI). Dysplastic lesions were observed most frequently in the never-smoking patients, and this difference was statistically significant (P = .026). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study indicate that nonsmoking-related oral leukoplakia lesions are more frequent among women than among men, are more likely to be located on the tongue than smoking-related lesions, and show epithelial dysplasia more frequently than smoking-related lesions.

Citologia esfoliativa da mucosa oral: comparação citomorfométrica da mucosa oral normal em pacientes com câncer oral e indivíduos sadios / Exfoliative cytology of the oral mucosa: a cytomorphometric comparison of healthy oral mucosa in oral cancer patients and healthy subjects

O objetivo do presente trabalho foi identificar as diferenças citomorfométricas entre a mucosa oral de pacientes com câncer oral e indivíduos sadios. Sistema de análise de imagens foi utilizado para determinar a área nuclear (AN), área citoplasmática (AC) e a relação AN/AC em 1.000 células da mucosa oral de 10 pacientes com carcinoma oral e 10 indivíduos sadios. Nos pacientes com câncer oral, a amostra foi obtida de áreas visivelmente não afetadas pelo carcinoma. A média AN encontrada nos pacientes com câncer foi 103 mm2 e 105 mm2 nos indivíduos sadios; a média AC no grupo com câncer foi 2482 mm2 e 2677 mm2 nos indivíduos sadios; e a relação AN/AC observada nos pacientes com câncer foi de 0.05 e 0.04 nos indivíduos sadios. Nenhuma das diferenças foi estatisticamente significativa em um nível de 5 por cento. Pode-se concluir que nem a área citoplasmática, a área nuclear e a AN/AC são diferentes na mucosa oral de pacientes com câncer e indivíduos sadios