ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Minerva Dental and Oral Science 2021 October;70(5):173-9

DOI: 10.23736/S2724-6329.21.04348-X

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

The knowledge about periodontal health of northeastern Italian pharmacists: a cross-sectional survey

Lorenzo BEVILACQUA ¹, Vuokko ANTONINI ², Erika RUSSI ¹, Angelica SEVERIN ², Costanza FRATTINI ¹ ✉, Daniele ANGERAME ¹

¹ School of Dental Sciences, Unit of Periodontology and Dental Hygiene, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy; ² Private Practitioner, Trieste, Italy

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge of periodontal health and prevention of periodontal diseases of a pool of pharmacists working in Friuli Venezia Giulia.
METHODS: A 22-questions questionnaire about oral health was sent by mail to all the pharmacies working in Friuli Venezia Giulia and to the most known associations of pharmacists. The data were collected and analyzed by Google Forms software.
RESULTS: One-hundred sixty-four questionnaires were analyzed. Ninety-one percent of the pharmacists assert to give advice about prevention and treatment of oral affection during professional practice, but 97% never attended university courses about it. Only 21% took part in postgraduate courses about oral health. Most of them have not enough notions about periodontal disease.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study highlight that pharmacists have not enough knowledge about periodontal disease and its treatment but every day they provide advice about oral health. It would be appropriate a better organization of postgraduate courses about oral health and prevention of periodontal diseases.

KEY WORDS: Pharmacists; Health; Periodontal diseases; Prevention and control; Dental care; Knowledge