Attitude towards oral biopsy among general dentists in Murcia.

OBJECTIVE: The present study explores the attitude of general dentists towards oral biopsy as a diagnostic method in application to oral lesions.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A questionnaire was administered by mail to 520 general dentists in the Autonomous Community of Murcia (Spain), addressing a number of items: sociodemographic parameters, years of professional experience, the diagnosis of mucosal lesions, the performance of oral biopsies, and their histopathological evaluation.

RESULTS: The global response rate was 32.7% (55.9% for males and 43.5% for females), with a global mean age of 35.9 years. Of note is the fact that the group with least professional experience did not include oral biopsy as diagnostic procedure, with statistically significant differences versus the other groups of experience (p=0.048)

CONCLUSION: The assimilation of oral biopsy as a diagnostic procedure is seen to increase with the number of years of professional experience.