ANALYSIS OF PATIENTS' KNOWLEDGE OF DENTAL ILLNESS AND THEIR PREVENTION ACCORDING TO DATA OF SOCIOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11603/1681-2786.2025.3.15636Keywords:
dental care organization; oral disease prevention; dentists; patients’ oral health knowledge; cross-sectional survey.Abstract
Purpose: this study aimed to assess patients’ awareness of dental diseases and preventive measures, as well as dentists’ perceptions of the factors contributing to the high prevalence of dental pathology and the level of patients’ preventive skills. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 368 patients attending public and private dental facilities and 413 dentists from Kyiv and various regions of Ukraine. Bibliographic analysis, descriptive statistics, graphical visualization, and analytical methods were employed to process the data. Results. The findings indicate that 20–30% of patients are unaware of whether they have any oral diseases. Among patients attending public dental facilities, 50% visit a dentist for preventive purposes less than once per year. In contrast, patients from private clinics demonstrate higher adherence to preventive dental visits and undergo professional oral hygiene procedures more frequently. However, 10–15% of respondents do not consider dental visits for children under 18 years necessary for disease prevention. Regarding dentists’ perspectives, 27% reported being unaware of how often their patients brush their teeth, and 12% did not know how frequently patients attend preventive dental check-ups. Additionally, 10% of dentists indicated that their patients never utilize professional oral hygiene services, while 24% identified insufficient patient knowledge regarding oral disease prevention and hygiene as a major contributor to the high prevalence of dental pathology. Conclusions. There is a considerable lack of patient awareness concerning the prevention of oral diseases, accompanied by notable gaps in the preventive activities performed by dentists. Enhancing the preventive component of dental care requires integrated collaboration between dentists, general practitioners/family physicians, and dental hygienists, alongside strengthening patients’ responsibility for maintaining proper oral hygiene and attending regular dental check-ups.
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