Avaliação do conhecimento de estudantes de odontologia e cirurgiões-dentistas sobre o diagnóstico precoce do câncer de boca

Abstract

Introduction: Oral cancer is the sixth most common tumor and is amongthetenleading causes of death in the world. Early diagnosis is the way to improvethepatient's prognosis, increasing their quality of life and reducing complex andinvasivetreatments. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of dental students anddentistsabout the early diagnosis of oral cancer. Materials and methods: Observational,descriptive, cross-sectional study with a quali-quantitative approach basedontheanalysis of 500 dentistry students and dentists. Results: 178participants were part of the study, where 142 (79.8%) are dental studentsand36(20.2%) are dentists.Regarding the clinical examination in subsequent consultations, only20.2%answered that they did so. On the risk factors, all participants consideredsmoking.Regarding biopsy, only 24.2% feel able to perform. Finally, participantsassessed their level of knowledge about oral cancer, 90 participants(50.6%)classified it as good, 57 (32%) as regular, 25 (14%) as excellent and6(3.4%) believe it to be bad. Conclusion: It is concluded that the majorityof theresearch participants are aware of oral cancer, but it is necessary to acquiremoreinformation about this neoplasm so that professionals are able to carry out theearlydiagnosis of cancer in the face of initial lesions of the disease.