Oral cancer awareness of general medical and general dental practitioners.

Objective To assess general medical practitioners’ (GMPs’) andgeneral dental practitioners’ (GDPs’) awareness of prevention and earlydetection of oral cancer.Design Cross-sectional questionnaire-based study.Setting Primary care.Method Questionnaires were delivered to all GMPs and GDPs inTayside, assessing oral examination habits, delivery of advice on oralcancer risk factors, knowledge of oral cancer risk factors and clinicalappearance, preferred point of referral and requests for furtherinformation.Results Response rates of 71% and 84% were obtained from GMPsand GDPs respectively. GMPs were less likely to examine patients’ oralmucosa routinely, less likely to advise patients about risk factors fororal cancer, identified fewer risk factors for, and felt less confi dentabout diagnosing oral cancer from clinical appearance than theirdental counterparts. Seventy-one percent and 80% of GMPs and GDPsrespectively requested further information about oral cancer.Conclusion Patients with oral lesions often present to their generalmedical practitioner. The incidence of oral cancer is rising in the UnitedKingdom, therefore the role of general medical practitioners in preventionand detection of oral cancer is becoming ever more important.This study highlights the need for improved education of general medicalpractitioners on oral cancer