Dentists' knowledge, attitudes, and awareness regarding interprofessional collaboration with physical therapists

Purpose: Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) between dentists and physical therapists (PT) could improve access to patient treatment and oral care outcomes. This study aimed to assess dentists' knowledge, attitudes, and awareness of IPC with PT.

Methods: The study design included a 16-question online survey sent to dentists (n = 102) at a university in fall 2022 via SurveyMonkey. This survey evaluated dentists' knowledge of PT services and IPC referrals, awareness of PT IPC improving oral health and continuing education (CE) opportunities, and attitudes toward team care. Statistical analysis was performed using Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Chi-squared tests.

Results: Participants included general dentists (71.2%) and dental specialists (28.8%), with experience ranging from 1-5 years through 55+ years. Gender distribution included approximately 46.2% female and 53.8% male, with a survey response rate of 51.0% (n = 52). Females reported a significantly higher interest in PT IPC (p = 0.016) and referring (p = 0.022) than males. Dentists in practice for 21-40 years reported significantly higher participation in CE referral courses compared to other groups (p = 0.011). Compared to dental specialists, general dentists had a significantly more positive attitude when asked if dental collaboration with PT and physicians is equally important (p = 0.001). Additionally, 78.8% of respondents reported interest in attending a CE course on interprofessional education.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated dentists' limited awareness of the PT interprofessional collaborative approach. Females and general dentists reported higher positive attitudes toward PT IPC relationships. Most dentists were interested in attending additional IPC training.