Kosovar dentists’ knowledge on oral cancer

Introduction
Annually, around 657,000 individuals worldwide are newly diagnosed with oral and pharyngeal cancer, leading to over 330,000 fatalities. In Kosovo, the Kosovo Statistical Authority reported 51 cases of malignant tumors of the lip, mouth, and larynx (COO-C14) diagnosed at the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo in 2020.

Objectives
This research sought to evaluate Kosovar dentists’ knowledge on oral cancer.

Material and methods
A specifically designed questionnaire evaluating dentists’ understanding and responses related to oral cancer was administered to 147 dentists undergoing residency at the University Clinical Dental Centre of Kosovo. Data were analyzed using MS Excel, SPSS, and statistical tests.

Results
Of the 147 dentists surveyed, 137 participated, yielding a response rate of 93.19%. Most of the respondents were in the age group of 30-32 years (41.60%), with 1-3 years of clinical experience (42.33%). More than half of dentists (51.82%) answered correctly that oral cancer is most frequently diagnosed in patients aged over 60 years. Additionally, 53.28% accurately recognized the features of metastatic oral cancer as a hard, painless lymph node, which can be either mobile or fixed. Over two-thirds of dentists (70.07%) described early oral cancer lesions as small, painless, red spots, while 64.96% of participants accurately recognized leukoplakia and erythroplakia as lesions commonly associated with oral cancer.

Conclusions
The study indicates that residency dentists in Kosovo have a moderately satisfactory level of knowledge regarding oral cancer diagnosis. It underscores the need for dentists’ enhanced education and conti­nuous training to improve awareness and diagnostic skills related to oral cancer.