Thesis
Saudi Arabian Physicians’ Knowledge about Diet in Relationship to Dental Caries and Their Behavior Toward Oral Health
University of Iowa
Master of Science (MS), University of Iowa
Spring 2020
DOI: 10.17077/etd.005447
Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate physicians’ knowledge and practices regarding diet in relation to dental caries in children 5 years of age or under.
Materials and methods: The study was a cross-sectional convenience sample study that targeted physicians who practiced in Saudi Arabia and who treated 0-5-year-old children. The survey consisted of three parts. The first part queried demographic data and physicians’ practice patterns. The second part investigated physicians’ sources of information about oral health and evaluated physicians’ knowledge about diet in relation to dental caries. The third part evaluated physicians’ behaviors regarding oral health (including counseling patients’ parents about oral health, evaluating children’s teeth and referring patients to a dentist). The survey was distributed to the targeted physicians using social media, specifically the WhatsApp application. For statistical analyses, initially descriptive analyses were calculated for all dependent and independent variables then bivariate analyses were performed. To assess physicians’ knowledge in relationship to the independent variables, Kruskal-Wallis test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, and Spearman correlation test were used. To assess the relationship between physicians’ behavior variables and demographic and physicians’ practice variables Fisher's exact test, chi-square test, and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used. For multivariate analyses, linear models were used for the knowledge variables, and logistic models were used for the behavior variables.
Results: The total number of respondents was 82. The majority were female (74%) vs males (26%) , Saudi (95%) vs non-Saudi (5%), and physicians with 6-10 years of practice. Most of the respondents were general practitioners (43%), followed by pediatricians (30%), and family medicine physicians (28%). The majority of the respondents practiced in the eastern province (70%) and in urban settings (87%). Seventy-two percent practiced in the Ministry of Health, and 89% worked in a setting in which there was a dental clinic in the practice. Some of the most commonly cited sources of information about dental health included communication with dentists and physicians, practice experience, and medical school (> 50% responded “Yes” to each of these sources). With respect to physicians’ knowledge, physicians had the most knowledge about the effect of high in sugar foods and taking formula milk to bed on increasing the risk of dental cavities. Moreover, they had the least knowledge about the effect of breast feeding throughout the night and xylitol on dental caries. There was a statistically significant association between physicians’ knowledge about diet in relation to dental caries and specialty (p=0.006). General practitioners had more knowledge than pediatricians and family medicine physicians. Forty-five percent of physicians evaluate children’s teeth (51+% of the time). There was a statistically significant association between physicians’ behavior in evaluating children’s teeth and specialty (p=0.02). Sixty-six percent of physicians would refer a child to a dentist based on the child having dental emergencies or dental cavities (51+% of the times). Forty-four percent of physicians counsel about the relationship between diet and dental caries (51+% of the times), 59% of physicians inquire whether a child takes a bottle to bed (51+% of the times), and 30% of physicians inquire whether a child has a dentist (51+% of the times). There was a statistically significant association between the counseling behavior of inquiring if a child takes a bottle to bed and specialty (p=0.019). General physicians inquire about a child taking a bottle to bed more than pediatricians and family medicine physicians. There was also a statistically significant association between inquiring if a child takes a bottle to bed and years of practice (p=0.03), physicians who had more years of practice inquire more than physicians with less years of practice about whether a child takes a bottle to bed.
Conclusion: Overall, physicians showed good knowledge about the relationship between diet and dental caries. The physicians showed the best knowledge about the effect of a high sugar diet and the effect of drinking formula during the night on dental caries, and the least knowledge about continuous breastfeeding throughout the night and the effect of xylitol on dental caries. General practitioners had the highest knowledge compared to pediatricians and family medicine physicians. Physicians do not often counsel their patients about oral health related subjects or evaluate children’s teeth. Only about 66% of the physicians refer a child to a dentist if the child has dental cavities or a dental emergency.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Saudi Arabian Physicians’ Knowledge about Diet in Relationship to Dental Caries and Their Behavior Toward Oral Health
- Creators
- Amal Aljeshi
- Contributors
- Justine Kolker (Advisor)Michelle McQuistan (Committee Member)Teresa Marshall (Committee Member)Sandra Guzman-Armstrong (Committee Member)Erliang Zeng (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (MS), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Operative Dentistry
- Date degree season
- Spring 2020
- DOI
- 10.17077/etd.005447
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- xv, 119 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2020 Amal Aljeshi
- Language
- English
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-104).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
Dental caries (cavities) is the most common untreated disease in the world. In Saudi Arabia, studies showed that dental caries is present among a large percentage of children. Controlling dietary behaviors are necessary to prevent dental caries disease, as diet is an essential component in the formation of dental caries. Children visit physicians at an earlier age than they visit dentists. Thus, physicians can play an important role in dental caries disease prevention, by identifying dental caries, referring children to a dentist and counseling about dental health related issues such as the relationship between diet and dental caries. For all of these reasons, this study aimed to evaluate physician’s knowledge about the relationship between diet and dental caries. This study also aimed to evaluate physicians’ practices towards dental health such as evaluating children’s teeth, referring children to a dentist and counseling parents about dental health. To conduct this study, a questionnaire was sent through WhatsApp application.
This study revealed that physicians had good overall knowledge about the relationship between diet and dental caries. However, the physicians had less knowledge about the effect of breastfeeding throughout the night and xylitol on dental caries. General practitioners had more knowledge than pediatricians and family medicine physicians. Physicians do not often counsel about dental related subjects, refer children to a dentist or evaluate children’s teeth. However, general practitioners counsel about whether a child takes a bottle to bed and evaluate children’s teeth more than pediatricians and family medicine physicians. Physicians who had more years of practice counsel about whether a child takes a bottle to bed more than physicians with less years of experience.
- Academic Unit
- Operative Dentistry
- Record Identifier
- 9983956192602771
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