Assessing dental students' knowledge of oral cancer in The United Arab Emirates

Objective The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge of future dentists of the United Arab Emirates on risk and non-risk factors for oral cancers and correlate it with their own tobacco use, whether they assess their patients' tobacco use and their opinion about the relation of oral cancer and smokeless tobacco use. Methods A total of 270, first- to fifth-year undergraduate dental students who consented to participate in the study filled in a questionnaire enquiring about their knowledge of oral cancer risk factors. A score of oral cancer risk factor knowledge was calculated for each participant based on their correct answers. Results Eighty-three per cent of participants identified the use of tobacco as a risk factor for oral cancer, 52% identified old age, 45.6% knew about low consumption of fruits and vegetables and 74.4% of students could correctly identify use of alcohol as a risk factor for oral cancer. A significant association was found between being a current and previous tobacco user and having low knowledge of risk factors score (P=0.015). No significant associations were found between the year of study in the dental college, gender, nationality and knowledge of oral cancer risk factor scores. Conclusion This study showed an apparent lack of knowledge of oral cancer risk factors among dental students that may later result in a deficiency in integrating optimal oral cancer diagnostic procedures in their practices. There is an urgent need to enhance the oral cancer curricula in oral cancer education and clinical training in oral cancer prevention and examination for dental students.