Extent of Awareness regarding Systemic Effects of Periodontal Disease among Medical Interns

Objective: Study design: Cross sectional study Place and duration: From May to June 2013—Benazir Bhutto Hospital (Rawalpindi) Federal Government Services Hospital (Islamabad) Introduction: Periodontal diseases are the most common inflammatory diseases affecting the oral tissues and if untreated lead to eventual loss of teeth. Periodontitis is multifactorial in nature. Several research studies have associated relationship of periodontal diseases with other systemic diseases like diabetes, cardio vascular diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and low birth weight babies etc. This has triggered the need of a close correlation between medical doctors and dentists for treating the patients. The present study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the extent of knowledge about periodontal diseases and its systemic effects among medical interns–the future medical practitioners–so that their training needs with respect to the subject under study may be realized. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted from May to June 2013 and 200 medical interns who had completed at least one year of residency were randomly selected from 2 teaching hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Each participant was given a self-administered, pre-tested, Multiple Choice questionnaire to solve on the spot. Results: The results of the study showed that only 8% of interns scored good while 46% each scored fair and poor. Conclusion: The study concluded that the level of awareness regarding systemic effects of periodontal disease among medical interns is limited.