Evaluation of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of General Dentists Regarding Oral Cancer in Sari, Iran

BACKGROUND Oral cancer has emerged as a significant cause of global public health concern. If a cancerous lesion is diagnosed in primary stages, the survival rate would be higher. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate knowledge, attitude and practice of general dentist regarding oral cancer in Sari, Iran. METHODS This cross sectional analytical study was performed on general dentists of Sari, Iran. The dentists were given a questionnaire including demographic characteristics of the dentists and questions about knowledge, attitude and practice regarding oral cancer. Data were subjected to SPSS 18.0. Quantitative data were reported as mean (±SD) and qualitative data were shown as percent. Kolmogorov- Smirnoff sample test, t-test (p<0.07 was considered statistically significant)' equivalent nonparametric test and Spearman's rho test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS Total mean score of knowledge, mean score of females and mean score of males was 20.88±8.53, 20.96±7.62 and 20.71±10.43, respectively. Age and sex had no correlation with score of knowledge. CONCLUSION Dentists of Sari do not have enough knowledge about oral cancer.