Barriers of integrating oral and general health care: physicians’ view

Introduction: Background and objectives: A markedly emphasized oral health strategy in the last decades has been the integration of oral health into general health care. The following research aimed to characterize family physicians’ view on the most important barriers of this integration in public health networks in Tehran, Iran. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was distributed among a sample of general practitioners (n=86) in public health networks of Tehran. The questionnaire contained a list of the barriers preventing physicians from delivering basic preventive oral health practices, and the participants were asked to identify the most important one. Mentioned barriers were not receiving additional fee, not having enough knowledge about oral health, patients’ refusal and lack of time during patients visit. Results : Among all participants, 74% (n=64) were female and the mean age was 41.6. Barriers of giving oral health care services were ranked by physicians as following: not taking additional fee: 12.8% (n=11), not having enough knowledge about oral health: 30.2% (n=26), not being accepted by patients: 4.7% (n=4), and lack of time during patients visit: 50% (n=43). No difference based on gender was found. Conclusion : Lack of time and knowledge seemed to be the most important barriers of delivering basic preventive oral health care by physicians. Recruitment of new physicians to increase the time of each visit, and more trainings in oral health care field through undergraduate curriculum and continuing medical education programs may be feasible solutions to overcome these barriers.