Dental Students’ Awareness About Prevention, Early Diagnosis and Referral of Patients With Oral Cancers in Tabriz in 2018

Background: Oral cancers are the 11th leading cancers worldwide, with an annual mortality rate of 500 across the world. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the awareness of dental students about prevention, early diagnosis and referral of patients with oral cancers in Tabriz Azad University in 2018. Methods: The present descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out in 2018 in dental students from the third to the sixth year of their studies in Tabriz Azad University using their self-reports. To this end, 153 dental students were randomly selected based on their education levels and included in the study. Data were collected using a standard questionnaire and analyzed by chi-squared test. Statistical significance was considered to be P<0.05. Results: A total of 80.4% of the students examined the oral mucosa during routine clinical examinations and 83.7% reported that they would warn their patients about the risk factors for cancers after graduation. Only 51% of the students had ever had a chance to examine patients with oral lesions. A total of 67.1% of the subjects reported that they did not have adequate awareness of prevention of oral cancers and 91.5% were interested in gaining more knowledge about oral cancers. When the subjects were questioned about knowledge about the clinical manifestations of oral cancers, 31.4% exhibited very low level of knowledge. The majority of students (78.5%) believed that an ulcer with irregular margins that lasted for more than two weeks was due to cancer. Conclusions: The results showed a moderate level of knowledge in dental students about the clinical manifestations of oral cancers, the related risk factors and how to refer patients with such cancers. The majority of the students reported inadequate information and knowledge about prevention of oral cancers and needed to gain more knowledge.