Dental Student's Knowledge of Preventing, Early Detecting and Referring Patients Suffering from Oral Cancer

Now, oral cancer is considered one of the most important diseases related to oral health. The objective of the present study is to determine knowledge of dental students of dental schools in Isfahan about oral cancer and the comparison of the level of student's knowledge in different years of education.
The present study is a cross-sectional-analytical one conducted in 2013. The population of the study included dental students of private and state university of Isfahan that 255 students were selected randomly. The data was collected using questionnaire. The data, after being collected, was analyzed using SPSS software program and the descriptive statistical techniques of Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney.
From private and public dental schools in Isfahan 56 percent and 44 percent of dental students were involved. Regarding performing routine clinical oral examination, 81% of the participants answered positively, which did not have significant difference among the years of education of the participants(P=0.116). Regarding the examination of the patients with oral lesions, 46% of them answered positively, which the difference between the years of education was highly significant (P≤0.001).
The findings of the research indicated that the level of knowledge of dental students of Isfahan City regarding the detection of oral lesions was not sufficient and although students did not perform common examinations for exploring oral cancer, they did not have sufficient knowledge regarding some of the risk factors and oral lesions related to cancer; therefore, it is necessary that a comprehensive curriculum be developed during their education.