A survey of dentists' attitudes and knowledge of treating scleroderma patients: Discovery of an access to care issue

The prevalence of Scleroderma or systemic sclerosis (SSc) is 18.4 per 100,000. SSc causes dry mouth, a major risk factor for tooth decay, and shrinks the mouth opening complicating care. A previous survey determined 28% of SSc patients have difficulty finding dentists prepared to treat them and 63% do not recommend their current dentist to other SSc patients. We conducted an internet-based survey of all 4465 members of the Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS) to determine their knowledge and attitudes of treating SSc patients. Data was analyzed using SPSS and Qualtrics research suite. Dentists aged 30 and older were somewhat evenly represented with few dentists under thirty participating. Responses were primarily from Eastern Massachusetts (80%). Most dentists believed they have an ethical responsibility to treat patients who have scleroderma (93%). Over half of dentists believed that in not knowing about SSc they might harm a patient (51%). If contacted by a patient who has scleroderma, 50% of dentists would gather information on the disease or the patient's condition. Dentists who felt prepared (71%) were more likely to answer knowledge questions correctly than those who felt unprepared (p=0.004, Mann-Whitney U test). Knowledge questions related to diagnosis and classification of scleroderma. Low yield (6.0%) was due to an undiagnosed technical problem with the Qualtrics website. Dentists would like to learn more about scleroderma (96%). The results indicate the importance and potential efficacy of creating a health communication effort targeting oral health providers to improve patient satisfaction and access to care.