Questionnaire-based study related to the level of awareness and knowledge about oral cancer among Turkish patients with dental diseases in 2018

Background and aim: in this study, the awareness and knowledge level of oral cancer (oc) was assessed among a group of patients with dental problems in turkey. methods: 509 individuals at the ages of ≥18 years, who attended to school of dentistry of the ordu university, ordu, turkey, were included in the study. to assess the respondents’ awareness and knowledge of oc, a self-administered questionnaire with 30 items was used. some socio-demographic characteristics and smoking/alcohol habits of respondents were also asked. the data were analyzed by calculating percentages, frequency distributions, and chi-square test to assess significance. the statistical significance level was set at p < 0.050. results: in total, 61.9% of the respondents were informed of oc with no significant differences by sex (p = 0.660). only 31.6% of the respondents reported knowledge on oc. the respondents who claimed to have some knowledge about oc, identified non-healing ulcer as early sign and smoking as risk factor as 35.4% and 48.4%, respectively. conclusion: the present study indicated an overall insufficiency of awareness and knowledge concerning oc among the subjects among a group of turkish people with dental problems. it is recommended that effective health education programs be emphasized for the recognition of oc in turkey.