Elizabeth Fitriana Sari, Wahyu Hidayat, Tenny Setiani Dewi, Sri Rezeki, Rosaline Krimadi, Michael John McCullough, Nicola Cirillo
Introduction: The most effective means for reducing oral cancer (OC) mortality is by preventing late-stage disease. Early diagnosis can be improved by increasing awareness among healthcare providers, specifically general dental practitioners (GDP). Therefore, our study aimed to assess GDPs' knowledge of OC risk factors and perceived competence in performing conventional oral examination (COE) in routine dental practice. Material and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in five provinces of Indonesia, namely: Aceh, Banda Aceh (BA); Bandung, West Java (WJ); special district Jakarta (JKT), JKT; Pontianak, West Kalimantan (WK); and Sorong, West Papua (WP). The local Dental Association or Faculty of Dentistry invited the GDPs to attend an education program and complete the survey. Results: One hundred seventy-seven GDPs completed the survey (WJ, n = 63; BA, n = 44, JKT, n = 27; WP, n = 23; and WP, n = 20). A large proportion (164 out of 177, 92.66%) of GDPs felt they had received insufficient training to equip them to diagnose OC and as many as 22.6% (n = 40) did not refer to specialists when they found suspicious mucosal lesions. Notwithstanding the significant regional variations, the majority of Indonesian GDPs self-reported inadequate knowledge and awareness of OC and scarce confidence in performing COE. Conclusion: GDP knowledge of OC risk factors and COE is key to improving early diagnosis of OC at a community level. Therefore, it is suggested that the lack of knowledge and confidence of GDPs reported here should be addressed through the national dental curriculum in Indonesia. © 2023 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Dental Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Melbourne Dental School, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, VIC, Australia; Dentistry Discipline, Department of Rural Clinical Science, La Trobe Rural Health School, Bendigo, Australia; Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia; Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia; Rumah Sakit Umum Daerah Sele Be Solu I, West Papua, Sorong, Indonesia; School of Dentistry, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
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