Assessment of Maxillofacial Prosthesis Knowledge and Practice Among Dental Professionals in Saudi Arabia

This 18-item online closed questionnaire-based study aimed to evaluate and assess the level of knowledge and practices of maxillofacial prosthesis (MFP) among different dental professionals in Saudi Arabia (SA).

An Electronic investigation was directed to dental professionals (final-year students, interns, general practitioners, MFP residents, and specialists). Participants were invited to respond to the online forms based on their knowledge and MFP practice. The collected answers were evaluated employing descriptive statistics as values and percentages. The association among participants, knowledge, and practice was analyzed using Chi-square, with a P-value of ≤0.05 indicating statistical significance.

336 participants were included, with only 20 patients receiving MFP, those were 12, 3, and 5 patients who received MFP for the mandible, maxilla, and nasal MFPs, respectively. A significant difference was found between dental professional participants and MFP knowledge questions with p < 0.001, except for questions like ‘’Do you know that there is more than one type of maxillofacial prosthesis?”, ‘’How many maxillofacial specialists or consultants are in the place that you work?” and ‘’Is there interest to support and develop MFP from the Ministry of Health in the city?” with p-values of 0.104, 0.081, and 0.134, respectively. Also, a significant difference was detected between participants and their answers to most of the practice questions, with p < 0.001, except for the question related to the type of MFP they practice (p = 0.0125).

Dental practitioners have good knowledge, but the practice of MFP is still fair. Referrals and multidisciplinary approaches for managing these patients remain poor.