Behaviors and knowledge of dentists of the Primary Health Care regarding oral cancer

Abstract Introduction Considering the importance of prevention and early diagnosis of oral cancer, the Primary Health Care is an ambience suitable for the development of these actions, and dental attention plays a strategic role in this confrontation. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the knowledge and behaviors of dental surgeons of the Primary Health Care on oral cancer. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted using interviews with dentists of the Family Health Strategy. The Mann-Whitney test was used for comparison between independent and dependent variables. Results: Most of the 70 dentists evaluated were identified with satisfactory knowledge (82.6%) on oral cancer; however, differences were observed with respect to the ability to provide preventive information (p<0.001); perform exfoliative cytology (p=0.011), and the level of education on oral cancer obtained at graduation (p<0.001). Most of the professionals were identified with unsatisfactory behavior (52.2%), with differences with regard to the importance given to the examination of soft tissues in the initial queries (p=0.005); the investigation of risk factors (p=0.002); providing information on self-examination of the mouth (p<0.001), and preventive activities (p=0.029). Conclusion: Most of the dentists evaluated present satisfactory knowledge on oral cancer, but this knowledge has not been put into practice in their activities.