Dentist's Knowledge and perspectives on oral health promotion for disabled individuals

Disabled individuals are involved with several oral health problems. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and perspective of dentists towards oral health promotion in disabled individuals.
Dentists participating in the fifty-fourth International Congress of Iranian Dental Association in 1392 in Tehran were invited. A valid and reliable questionnaire including the information about age, gender, city of practice, the working experience with the disabled was distributed. There were also 13 questions on knowledge and one question about the importance of training in the field of “oral health promotion of the disabled” in this questionnaire. The data were analyzed by linear regression model by SPSS 18 software.
117 questionnaires were collected and evaluated. The mean age was 35.5 (10.1) years. Among the participants, 53.8% were male and 46.2% were female. Average score of knowledge was 6.5 of the maximum attainable 13. Among the dentists, 60% believed that receiving education on oral health promotion for the disabled is important. Liner regression model which evaluated the effect of confounding factors showed that aging led to reduction in dentist's knowledge of oral health of the disabled. Furthermore, working experience with the disabled led to the increase in knowledge. Dentists who had previously treated a disable individual were more interested in receiving related training.
Knowledge of dentists in the field of oral health promotion of the disabled is not desirable while most dentists recognize the need for training. This issue emphasizes on the need for a broader educational effort.