Oral Health Knowledge Gaps and Their Impact on the Role of Pediatricians: A Multicentric Study

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the current level of pediatricians to promote oral health. In particular, the study sought to determine whether years of experience were associated with the dentistry knowledge of pediatricians. Materials and Methods: Online recruitment was used to obtain a sample of pediatricians from the United States of America, Greece, and Saudi Arabia. These three countries are the participants in this research project. The participants completed an anonymous, online, self-administered questionnaire. This questionnaire is available upon request. The differences in responses to knowledge questions, attitude questions, and solution questions were examined with respect to years of experience. Poisson regression models were used to examine whether these differences were statistically significant. Results: A total of 313 pediatricians participated in the study. The study found moderate levels of dental knowledge among pediatricians. A total of 53.4% reported that they had adequate knowledge to make the right recommendations on oral health for patients and parents. Compared to the participants in a residency program, the participants with 5 to 10 years of experience were over 2.72 times as likely to report adequate knowledge, and participants with 10 years of experience or more were nearly 1.98 times as likely to report adequate knowledge. There was a significant association between dentistry knowledge questions and attitude. Conclusion: The current level of influence of pediatricians in promoting pediatric oral health is limited to moderate. The gaps in oral health knowledge remain an issue, even among a broad sample of pediatricians from Greece, Saudi Arabia, and the United States, particularly pediatricians with less work experience.

Pediatricians’ Knowledge of Emergency Management of Dental Injuries and Use of Mouthguards: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Pediatricians should be prepared to give appropriate advice to parents or guardians about first aid for avulsed teeth. They need to have general knowledge of eruption dates and patterns for deciduous and permanent teeth and the difference between a deciduous and a permanent tooth because primary teeth should not be replanted [ 9 , 27 ]. In our study, only 40.3% of the respondents knew that reimplantation of a deciduous tooth is not an option.…”

“…To date, numerous studies and systematic reviews have been conducted to determine the role of medical doctors and pediatricians in children’s oral health and to assess their knowledge, attitudes and professional practice experience. The majority of these studies have shown that physicians and pediatricians have limited knowledge and understanding of critical areas of dentistry, such as oral health and dental trauma management [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Their inadequate knowledge and practice experience result from insufficient education and a lack of oral health content in their educational process and training [ 8 , 12 , 14 ].…”

Oral health-related interdisciplinary practices among healthcare professionals in Saudi Arabia: Does integrated care exist?

“…These findings are in line with many studies nationally and internationally [ 26 , 29 – 32 ]. A recent multicenter study involving dental pediatricians from three different countries (United States of America, Greece, and Saudi Arabia) found that knowledge was proportionally associated with experience [ 44 ]. Experience was thought to be the reason for the discrepancies seen in oral health-related knowledge and interdisciplinary practices namely referrals [ 45 ].…”

Association between ethnicity and health knowledge among the floating population in China

“…Studies documented lack of requisite health knowledge in clinicians [ 35 ], Nepal diabetes patients [ 36 ], paediatricians [ 37 ], Australian pharmacists [ 38 ], health professionals [ 39 ], primary care physicians [ 40 ], and nurses working in heart failure units [ 41 ]. Even worse, the gaps in oral health knowledge among a sample of pediatricians were reported [ 42 ]. Health knowledge deficiency poses a serious threat on the improvement of health conditions among the individuals of interest.…”