DT News - MEA - Nigeria: Many medical students have inadequate knowledge of periodontal disease

Dental Tribune International

Sun. 3 January 2015

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LAGOS, Nigeria: The World Health Organization estimates that severe periodontal disease is found in 15–20 per cent of middle-aged adults worldwide. In Nigeria, up to 58 per cent of people aged 15 and over are affected. Despite these high numbers, in a recently published study, internal medicine residents demonstrated a considerable lack of knowledge about the condition and its link to other systemic diseases.

In order to assess their knowledge of, and attitude towards, periodontal disease, over 100 internal medicine residents (aged between 27 and 45) completed a questionnaire. Around 68 per cent of the respondents were men.

The researchers reported that, overall, only about 28 per cent of the residents in the study exhibited an adequate knowledge of periodontal disease. Although over 70 per cent know that the term “gum disease” is synonymous with periodontal disease, only 11 per cent knew that gingival bleeding is an early symptom of the condition. More than 50 per cent were aware of the possible associations between periodontal disease and smoking, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, leukaemia, stress and chronic kidney disease and many were able to identify periodontal disease as a risk factor for coronary heart disease (46 per cent), stroke (44 per cent) and peripheral arterial disease (28 per cent).

Almost 60 per cent of the participants named television as their primary source of oral health information. Only 40 per cent stated that they acquired their knowledge through books or journals and only 23 per cent stated their continuing medical education as their source of information.

However, the vast majority of the participants had a positive attitude towards their patients’ periodontal health. More than 90 per cent of the residents agreed that regular screenings for periodontal disease was important and over 80 per cent agreed that they should refer their patients for routine dental check-ups.

Overall, the study is in agreement with previously conducted studies as the results reflect the limited exposure to dental health education. It highlights the gap between specialities of medicine and dentistry and the need for increased dental education programmes in Nigeria. The researchers concluded that more dental health courses should be included in the under- and postgraduate medical curricula, especially since Nigerian patients are more likely to seek oral health care from a medical professional, because the dentist-to-population ratio is grossly inadequate in the country.

The study, titled "Association between periodontal diseases and systemic illnesses: A survey among internal medicine residents in Nigeria", was published online on 16 November in the Saudi Dental Journal ahead of print.

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