Head and Neck Exam Practices of Dental Professionals

Overview

Journal Clin Exp Dent Res

Publisher Wiley

Specialty Dentistry

Date 2023 Sep 28

PMID 37759423

Authors

Sarah Glass

Vanessa Brown

Caroline Carrico

Parthasarathy Madurantakam

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: Periodic examination of the head and neck includes screening for oral cancer, which is largely performed in dental offices by vigilant oral healthcare providers. The aim of this study was to assess practice patterns among Virginia dentists in performing head and neck exams and the referral rates of biopsies after completion of head and neck exams. We hypothesized that not all dentists perform head and neck exams and there is a difference between dentists who refer patients for a biopsy and those that perform biopsies.

Methods: General dentists and dental specialists who are members of the Virginia Dental Association were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey study through REDCap to self-report their head and neck exam protocols.

Results: A total of 224 providers completed the survey. The majority of respondents were general dentists with more than 20 years in practice, who practice in a private setting, and see more than 10 patients in a day. All respondents stated they perform intraoral examinations, but 10 respondents stated they do not perform extraoral examinations. Nearly a third of respondents reported doing their own biopsies.

Conclusions: Although only 8.5% of oral healthcare providers in Virginia responded to our survey, respondents are following the 2017 ADA good practice statement by providing their patients with head and neck exams to screen for oral cancer. Additional education pertaining to extraoral anatomy, malignant transformation of oral potentially malignant disorders, and pathology procedures may be helpful to clinicians.

Citing Articles

Head and neck exam practices of dental professionals.

Glass S, Brown V, Carrico C, Madurantakam P Clin Exp Dent Res. 2023; 9(5):887-893.

PMID: 37759423 PMC: 10582211. DOI: 10.1002/cre2.772.

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