A Canadian Perspective on Family Medicine Residents' Attitudes and Practices Toward Infants' Oral Health

ObjectivesTo explore the extent to which infant oral health is addressed within the family medicine residencies in Canada, and the attitudes and practices of Canadian family medicine residents towards infant oral health. MethodsTwo brief self-administered online surveys, one to 17 Canadian family medicine training program directors and another to current residents within these programs, were conducted using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap). Questions focused around respondents attitudes and practices towards infants oral health and infant oral health content within family medicine curricula. Results11 family medicine directors and 155 family medicine residents responded to the survey. 90% of the directors indicated that clinical oral screening was not incorporated in the curriculum. 53% of the residents reported that they did not feel their training was adequate to identify dental caries. 41% described the quality of their oral health training to be poor. While 72% reported lack of knowledge and training as the major barrier to performing oral health-related practices. ConclusionMost of the family medicine training programs in Canada do not include infant oral health screening in their curriculum. The family medicine residents reported lack of knowledge and training is preventing them from performing various oral health-related practices.