Referrals by general dental practitioners and medical practitioners to oral medicine specialists in New Zealand: a study to develop protocol guidelines

Objective. The aim of this study was to examine the awareness level among general dental practitioners and medical practitioners with regard to common oral mucosal diseases and orofacial pain, investigate their orofacial screening and oral medicine referral practices, assess the information to be included in the referral, and evaluate the perceived need for supplementary resources and guidelines for referral. Study Design. In total, 51 general dental practitioners and medical practitioners were recruited to investigate their orofacial screening and oral medicine referral practices. Three oral medicine specialists were interviewed to understand the referrals received from dentists and physicians. Results. Of the participants, 87.5% dentists and 52.6% physicians considered orofacial screening as treatment priority. However, 71.9% dentists performed orofacial screening routinely, whereas none of the physicians did. Of the dentists, 50% referred relevant patients to oral medicine specialists every time they encountered such cases, and 31.6% of the physicians did so. Referrals should include the patient's background and medical history, full descriptions of the lesions, and results and photos from special tests. Of the participants, 65.6% of the dentists and 78.9% of the physicians believed that continuing professional development courses in oral medicine would be beneficial, and 93.8% of the dentists and 89.5% of the physicians agreed that standardized national referral guidelines would be useful. Conclusions. Standardized national referral guidelines, as well as continuing professional development courses in oral medicine, would be helpful to dental practitioners in the management of patients.