Clinicians’ perceptions of domestic violence routine screening in public dentistry

Aim or Purpose: To assess Sydney Dental Hospital (SDH) clinicians’ beliefs, attitudes, and experience in identification and response to domestic violence (DV) in a public dental setting prior to the implementation of Domestic Violence Routine Screening (DVRS). Materials and Methods: An anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst SDH clinicians from one general and two specialist clinics between November and December 2022 following completion of DVRS training and prior to DVRS implementation. The survey consisted of 10 questions addressing clinicians’ characteristics (demographic and educational history), their knowledge, perception, and previous experience responding to women disclosing DV. The study was approved by RPAH Ethics Committee. Results: Thirty-two clinicians participated (73% response), with 56% aged 25-34, 47% with more than 10 years of clinical experience (32% 5-10 years and 22% less 5 years) and 60% were general dentists. Most participants (75%) reported they had previously managed DV disclosures, and 63% agreed that responding to DV disclosure was part of their role, but 79% were not at all or only slightly confident in responding to DV disclosure prior to DVRS training. Nearly 60% considered that more training was needed, and their concerns included dealing with an ambiguous situation (95%), engaging with women to complete the screening (79%), responding to DV disclosures (79%) and child protection mandatory reporter requirements (63%). Conclusions: A large proportion of clinicians had previously managed DV disclosure prior to DVRS implementation and agreed that screening was part of their role but identified the need for more targeted training and support to increase their confidence in responding to DV and undertake DVRS

Australian dentists’ knowledge and attitude towards HPV infection

Aim or Purpose: As the incidence of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is increasing, knowledge of OPSCC risk factors, such as HPV infection and sexual behaviour, is important for dental clinicians and patients, and this study aimed to determine the attitude, knowledge and behaviour of dentists regarding HPV and OPSCC. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional quantitative study, approved by the University of Sydney Ethics Committee, was conducted between 2020-2021 and involved Australian dentists responding to an online survey. The questionnaire link was distributed through the Australian Dental Association publications, magazines, Facebook and ADX conference. Data were evaluated via SPSS using a combination of univariate and bivariate analyses, and a p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Of 114 participants, 58.8% were from NSW/ACT, 55.3% were female, 52.6% were from private practice, and 47.4% had ≥16 years of experience. Those who practised for 16+ years (79.6%) had more knowledge of the association between oral HPV and OPSCC, and dentists who accessed information through the university, colleagues or television were less knowledgeable about HPV/OPSCC than those who attended continuing education courses. While the majority agreed that oral HPV testing would be beneficial for early OPSCC diagnosis (79.8%) and patient education (64.0%), a large proportion (70.1%) felt uncomfortable discussing oral sex as a cancer prevention method, and 51.8% had never received sexual health education. Conclusions: Dental practitioners understand the importance and are ideally placed to discuss HPV and the risk of OPSCC, but additional training is required. Continuing education through ADA courses, publications, conferences, seminars, and dental and medical journals provided the updated information most effectively