Attitudes of surgeons toward the treatment and prosthetic rehabilitation of oral cancer patients – A questionnaire survey in central India

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the knowledge and attitude of surgeons toward the treatment and prosthetic rehabilitation of cancer patients in central India Settings and Design: Descriptive survey Materials and Methods: The survey was conducted by a printed questionnaire with 13 close-ended questions, distributed among 80 surgeons from different specialities practicing in different locations of central India. The responses were collected by personal visits to the participants and analysed. Results: Approximately more than one-half (67.5%) of the participants performed maxillary resections, and only 19.2% of the participants surgically reconstructed the maxillary defects in 75–100% of the treated cases. Furthermore, although all the participating surgeons believed in a multidisciplinary team approach and dental rehabilitation following surgical reconstructions, only 64% of them obtained pre-surgical dental evaluations from a prosthodontist. Moreover, although 97.5% of them communicated with a prosthodontist for prosthetic rehabilitation, only 2.5% of them got almost all their cases rehabilitated with a definitive prosthesis. Conclusion: The current practice trends of the surgeons in central India dealing with oral cancer patients indicate that although having a belief in a multidisciplinary team approach, the surgeons for some reasons have being exhibiting reluctance toward accessing the services of a prosthodontist and prosthetic rehabilitation of the treated oral cancer patients.