Background: Oral health is an important predictor for general health, and poor oral health is interrelated with the manifestations of systemic disease.
Aim: To determine the extent of oral health education in medical schools across Australia.
Methods: A survey of Australian medical schools was conducted (September 2013 to June 2014). Participants were administrators and curricula coordinators of medical programmes. The main outcome measures were teaching hours of specific areas of oral health education. Data were descriptively analysed.
Results: Participants from 8 of 18 universities responded to the questionnaire. The total hours dedicated to oral health in the medical programmes were: zero in one school; less than 2 h in three schools, 6-10 h in three schools and 30 h in one school. Only four schools taught the correlation between oral health and overall health, two schools taught about dental diseases (caries and periodontal disease), three schools taught dental trauma management and six schools taught oral anatomy. Only five schools taught about oral cancer: two of these taught about cancer for 10-15 min. No school reported hands-on training in an oral health setting.
Conclusions: The results indicate that Australian medical school graduates have little, if any, foundational knowledge of oral health (dental caries, bidirectional relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease, oral cancer and dental emergencies). The recognition of poor oral health plays a significant part in the early detection and care of chronic diseases. The teaching of fundamental oral health to medical students is crucial and should be integrated into medical school curricula.
Keywords: dental education; medical education; medical programme; medical school graduate; oral health; oral health education.
© 2018 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.