Oral health knowledge of final year medical students in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background: Many aspects of dental health care involve cooperation between dental surgeons and medical doctors, and there are many possible associations between oral health and general well-being. To achieve an effective collaboration between physicians and dentists, it is necessary for both sides to be knowledgeable in the interrelationship between oral and systemic health. The information regarding dental knowledge and attitude among medical students in Hong Kong is currently underexplored. Objectives: To assess the knowledge of final year medical students on oral disease that have systemic manifestations; to identify any knowledge gap in medical students in respect to dental problems; to assess whether or not the students trained under a medical curriculum are equipped with the knowledge and skills to manage dental complications; and to provide educational sources to respondents about common dental problems and their management. Methods: All year 6 medical students from The University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong were invited to participate in this study. A self-administered Google Form questionnaire survey was distributed to the medical students via the class representatives to collect their demographic data, knowledge score (0 to 12) on four oral health topics (odontogenic pain, temporomandibular disorder, dental avulsion, and oral lesion), and their attitudes towards dental-medical collaboration. On-site visits to medical school dormitories in both schools and after a whole-class lecture in The Chinese University of Hong Kong were also conducted. Answers to the questionnaire’s knowledge-based questions and additional educational resources were later provided to the respondents. Results: A total of 157 responses were received. 70.0% and 72% of respondents showed adequate knowledge on odontogenic pain and temporomandibular disorder respectively. However, 61.8% and 52.2% of them were not equipped with adequate knowledge on dental avulsion and oral lesions. Moreover, it was found that HKU students had better performance on odontogenic pain and oral lesions than CUHK students. Most of the respondents held a positive attitude towards dental-medical collaboration and incorporation of oral health-related education in their respective curricula. More than half of them indicated a lack of confidence in managing odontogenic pain, temporomandibular disease, and dental avulsion. More HKU students (42.5%) were confident in managing oral lesions than CUHK students (21.5%). Conclusion: According to this study, medical students in Hong Kong had adequate knowledge in odontogenic pain and temporomandibular disorder while they had inadequate knowledge in dental avulsion and oral lesions. Medical students from HKU had better knowledge compared to students from CUHK regarding odontogenic pain and oral lesions. Final year medical students generally had a positive attitude towards dental-medical collaboration and expressed interest in educational programs on dental knowledge.