Department of Dental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 3, Novi Sad, 21000, Serbia.
Dentistry Clinic of Vojvodina, Hajduk Veljkova 12, Novi Sad, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia.
BMC Oral Health. 2023 Jul 5;23(1):449. doi: 10.1186/s12903-023-03143-3.
Strong evidence supports the association between periodontitis and certain systemic diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the knowledge of a group of physicians and dentists in Serbia regarding this topic and assess their professional actions to prevent and control both periodontal and systemic diseases.
An anonymous self-administered structured questionnaire was sent to the available e-mail addresses of randomly selected healthcare providers working in Serbia. According to the inclusion criteria, general practitioners, specialists, general dentists, and specialists working in government hospitals and private practices in various cities in Serbia were recruited in the study. The questionnaire consisted of 17 questions divided into three parts. The first part recorded the sociodemographic characteristics of participants, the second part included questions about the clinical manifestation and etiology of periodontitis, as well as knowledge of the association between periodontitis and systemic diseases, and the third part included questions about professional procedures for the prevention and control of periodontitis and systemic diseases.
A total of 1301 health participants, 739 (57.8%) physicians and 562 (43.2%) dentists, were included in this cross-sectional study. Most respondents (94.7%) were aware of the association between periodontitis and general health. The highest percentage of respondents associated diabetes mellitus and periodontitis. Factors significantly associated with higher knowledge were female sex (odds ratio [OR], 1.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.37-2.52; p < 0.001) and dental profession (OR, 5.86; 95% CI], 4.03-8.53; p < 0.001). Participants who had higher knowledge score were more likely to ask their patients about gum/systematic health (p < 0.001) and refer them to dentists/physicians (p < 0.001).
It was concluded that compared to the group of dentists, the group of physicians had less knowledge of the relationship between periodontitis and systemic diseases. The female gender was significantly associated with better knowledge. A better understanding of this topic is associated with better clinical practice.
大量证据支持牙周炎与某些系统性疾病之间存在关联。本研究的目的是评估塞尔维亚一组医生和牙医对这一主题的认识，并评估他们预防和控制牙周和系统性疾病的专业措施。
向随机选择的在塞尔维亚工作的医疗保健提供者的可用电子邮件地址发送了匿名自我管理的结构化问卷。根据纳入标准，招募了在塞尔维亚各个城市的政府医院和私人诊所工作的全科医生、专家、普通牙医和专家。问卷分为三个部分，共 17 个问题。第一部分记录了参与者的社会人口统计学特征，第二部分包括牙周炎的临床表现和病因学以及牙周炎与系统性疾病之间关联的知识，第三部分包括预防和控制牙周炎和系统性疾病的专业程序的问题。
共有 1301 名卫生参与者，739 名（57.8%）医生和 562 名（43.2%）牙医参与了这项横断面研究。大多数受访者（94.7%）意识到牙周炎与整体健康之间存在关联。关联程度最高的是糖尿病和牙周炎。与更高知识相关的因素是女性（比值比 [OR]，1.86；95%置信区间 [CI]，1.37-2.52；p<0.001）和牙科专业（OR，5.86；95% CI，4.03-8.53；p<0.001）。具有更高知识评分的参与者更有可能询问患者牙龈/系统健康状况（p<0.001）并将其转介给牙医/医生（p<0.001）。
与牙医组相比，医生组对牙周炎与系统性疾病之间的关系的了解较少。女性性别与更好的知识水平显著相关。更好地理解这一主题与更好的临床实践相关。
