Oral cancer knowledge and diagnostic skill of Iranian dentists participating in the 40th congress of Iranian Dental Association (IDA)

Abstract

Background: Oral cancer is the 5th prevalent cancer and one of the main reason for mortality all over the world It is a serious risk for health The high mortality may be happened because of dentists inexact examination or the lack of enough information Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the knowledge and diagnostic skill of a group of Iranian dentists in oral cancer prevention and early detection Methods: The Pretested questionnaires were distributed among 412 general dental practitioners who voluntarily participated in the 40th international congress of Iranian Dental Association (IDA) in 2000 Results: Most of the respondents were male (602%) and aged lower than 37 years old (633%) Respondents totally replied 55% of knowledge ( =559) and 55% of diagnostic skills ( =165) questions correctly A significant correlation was found between the knowledge and diagnostic skills scores (r=04 P

Keywords

• oral cancer
• knowledge
• diagnostic skill
• education