Mouth ulcers: A study of where members of the general public might seek advice

Abstract

Objective To investigate where the public seek advice about mouth ulcers and to what extent the public approach the community pharmacy for advice.Subjects and methods One thousand members of the general public were randomly chosen and surveyed throughout the day in the main shopping streets of two towns in Israel, Haifa and Tel Aviv. All participants were presented with four standard verbal questions designed to identify reactions to and past experience of mouth ulcers. All responses were recorded immediately on to data sheets and transferred to a computer for analysis of frequencies and percentages and Chi-square analysis.Results Nearly one third of those surveyed admitted to a history of mouth ulceration. The vast majority (66-69%) would first approach their general medical practitioner for advice, 13-17% would first approach a general dental practitioner, and only a small minority of the public (4-10%) would first approach the community pharmacy. Lay persons could not distinguish an ulcer with features that would strongly suggest a malignant neoplasm from other types of mouth ulcer.Conclusions The dental profession needs to collaborate more closely with the medical and pharmaceutical professions in order to offer patients better access to information and care. © 2007 Nature Publishing Group.