Dental Hygiene, Dental, and Medical Students' OMFS/Hospital Dentistry-Related Knowledge/Skills, Attitudes, and Behavior: An Exploration.

Engaging other health care providers in oral health-related activities and interprofessional care (IPC) could increase access to oral health care for underserved populations in the U.S. The aims of this study were to assess dental hygiene, dental, and medical students' intra- and interprofessional and oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS)/hospital dentistry-related knowledge/skills, attitudes, and behavior; determine whether first and second year vs. third and fourth year cohorts' responses differed; and explore how intra- and interprofessional knowledge was related to interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional attitudes and behavior. Data were collected between April 2014 and May 2015 from 69 dental hygiene, 316 dental, and 187 medical students. Response rates across classes for the dental hygiene students ranged from 85% to 100%; 24% to 100% for the dental students; and 13% to 35% for the medical students. The results showed that the medical students had lower oral health-related and interprofessional knowledge and less positive attitudes about oral health-related behavior, IPE, and interprofessional teamwork than the dental hygiene and dental students. While third- and fourth-year medical students' interprofessional knowledge/skills and behavior were higher than those of first- and second-year students, the two groups' IPE-related and interprofessional attitudes did not differ. The students' knowledge correlated with their IPE and interprofessional communication-related skills and behavior, but not with their interprofessional attitudes. These dental hygiene, dental, and medical students' OMFS/hospital dentistry-related knowledge/skills and behavior increased over the course of their academic programs, while their IPE-related and intra- and interprofessional attitudes, especially for medical students, did not improve over time. OMFS and hospital dentistry units in medical centers offer distinctive opportunities for IPE and IPC. Utilizing these units may be one way to ensure that graduating providers are motivated to engage in IPC in their practice, thus contributing to reducing oral health disparities and increasing access to oral care for underserved populations.