Interdisciplinary Perspectives On Oral Health And Nutrition: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

Oral health and nutrition represent two critical dimensions of healthcare that interact with one another in important yet complex ways and are, therefore, regarded as essential components within any model of interdisciplinary healthcare. The present study aims to address neither of these two dimensions specifically but rather to identify their standing overall within a particular healthcare setting—namely, among health professionals in Saudi Arabia—by surveying the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of participants regarding both oral health and nutrition. Participants included general practitioners, physicians of public health, specialists in dental public health, registered nurses, and pharmacists from whom an online questionnaire survey was distributed via WhatsApp. The study was motivated by a number of factors related both to oral health and nutrition. In summary, although knowledge in both areas remained generally low, oral health received significantly greater attention than nutrition across every professional group and category and was more often involved in referral or consultation practices. In turn, other health-related disciplines such as family medicine, dietetics, and public health were approached regarding nutrition in 18.4% of cases, considerably lower than the corresponding figure of 80.6% for dentistry. The study concludes by delineating several policy and educational implications concerning the integration of oral health and nutrition into the curricula of professional health-related programs.