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Awareness of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Among Dental Students

Objective: More recently, HPV infection has been portrayed as a vital risk factor for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Dentistry students need comprehensive information about HPV to provide accurate advice to their patients. The aim of this study is 4th and 5th grade students’ awareness about HPV vaccination. Methods: A questionnaire consisting of 7 questions was applied to 226 students (102 4th grade and 126 5th grades), who were studying at Marmara University Faculty of Dentistry. In this survey, students’ knowledge level and awareness were examined. Results: In our study 75 (33.1%) of the participants were male and 151 (66.8%) were female. The rates of agreement of 4th grade students (96.1%) with the proposition “It is important that oral health professionals play an active role in the general medical condition of their patients.” were statistically significantly lower than the 5th grade students (97.6%) (p: 0.010; p <0.05). A statistically significant difference between grades in terms of participation rates in the statement “I got my HPV vaccine / I am thinking of getting it”. The rate of participation of 5th grade (38.7%) students in this statement was significantly lower than 4th grades (45.1%) (p:0.019; p<0.05) and significantly higher in women (47.7%) than in men (29.3%) (p = 0.005; p <0.05). Conclusion: Comprehensive training and motivation for improving dentistry students awareness against HPV vaccine will also improve knowledge and attitudes of the dental students on HPV induced oral cancer.