Dental care professionals' awareness of oral dryness and its clinical management: a questionnaire-based study

Despite the high prevalence of oral dryness and awareness of its complications, there is limited research on the clinical management of patients with oral dryness in general dental care.

To (1) describe and compare awareness among dental care professionals regarding saliva functions, potential causes and complications of oral dryness, and patient management (2) Investigate if the length of professional experience influences these aspects.

A digital self-administrated survey was sent to 2668 dental care professionals working in the general dental care, Public Dental Service, in Sweden. Twelve dental care professionals reviewed the questionnaire prior to its distribution. The questionnaire comprised 32 questions about patient management, awareness of saliva functions, causes and complications of oral dryness, and self-assessment queries.

The response rate was 18.6% (241 dentists and 257 dental hygienists). Older adults (65+) were asked more often about dry mouth (93.0%) compared to those aged 18-23 years (50.0%) and those under 18 years (24.9%). Dental hygienists encountered individuals with oral dryness more frequently (61.1%) than dentists (48.5%) (p < 0.01), and more often asked individuals in the age groups 18-23 years (p = 0.003), 24-40 years (p = 0.045), and 41-65 years (p = 0.031) about dry mouth. A higher proportion of dental hygienists (88.3%) than dentists (51.0%) had measured salivary secretion rate, (p < 0.001) and more often suggested preventive dental care 3-4 times a year, (42.5% vs. 30.5%) (p < 0.007). Dentists had a higher awareness of saliva functions, while dental hygienists had a higher awareness about causes and complications of oral dryness. Higher proportions of dentists and dental hygienists with over 10 years of professional experience had measured salivary secretion rate (69.1% vs. 95.7%) compared to their counterparts with less than 10 years of professional experience (35.9% vs. 79.5%) (p < 0.001 for both).

Compared to dentists, dental hygienists were more attentive to patients with oral dryness as they encountered these individuals more often, asked more age-groups, suggested frequent preventive measures, and had higher awareness of the causes and complications of oral dryness. Length of professional experience could improve both the management of patients with oral dryness and awareness of its causes, particularly for dental hygienists.