DENTAL STUDENTS AND DENTISTS' AWARENESS IN HANDLING PEDIATRIC PATIENTS HAVING SYSTEMATIC DISEASES IN RIYADH

It is a well-known fact that maintenance of oral health is a particularly important aspect to have a good general health and having a better quality of life. The oral cavity can be responsible for showing the symptoms of the systemic disease and maybe affected by the same, thus it can help in raising an early alarm. This is a cross-sectional study performed among the dental students and dentists in Riyadh using an online survey. Dental universities, hospitals and clinics in Riyadh were contacted and participants were demanded to fill up the survey. Totally 381 responses were received from the participants, which included 66% females and 34% males, 72% students/interns and 28% general practitioners. The general practitioners show significantly higher levels of knowledge as compared to students/intern group with majority of the p-values less than 0.05. Overall knowledge and awareness among the participants was on the lower side. There is need to educate students about the association of rare systemic conditions among children and their effect on the oral health.