Oral Cancer Awareness Level Within the Dental Community: Results from a Large Scale Survey in Cairo

The incidence of head and neck cancer was reported to be higher in more developed countries with an increase in incidence lately among younger age groups. The need for improvement of awareness of oral cancer and potentially malignant oral disorders is crucial. This study aims to identify the level of awareness of diagnostic and management protocols in the dental community. An English survey was arranged and sent via email to undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and faculty members at the dental school Cairo University. The questions focused on the early detection and level of awareness of oral cancer. Results were then analyzed to assess levels of awareness at the different education levels of the participants. Eight hundred sixty-eight responded out of the sent 5052 during the period between October 2015 and January 2016. The average results of the faculty staff members were higher than that of the student groups and participants with regular continuous assessment and knowledge refreshment achieved higher results. The results of this survey have pointed out areas of lack of awareness among the targeted population. The results have been brought up to the knowledge of policy makers to enable the improvement of level of awareness and assessment of risk factors for oral cancer.