Volume 24, Issue 106, November - December, 2020

The awareness and attitude of medical radiologists toward oral and maxillofacial radiologists

Hanadi M Khalifa^♦

Assistant Professor and Consultant, King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Dentistry, P.O. Box 21589, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Hanadi M. Khalifa, BDS, MSc, FRCD(C), Assistant Professor and Consultant, King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Dentistry, P.O. Box 21589, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Email: hmkhalifah@kau.edu.sa

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To investigate the awareness and attitudes of medical radiologists toward the subspecialty of oral and maxillofacial (OMF) radiology. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used, and an electronic questionnaire was sent out to radiologists in Saudi Arabia. The data from the 19-questions survey was collected between September 2018 and June 2020. Results: Despite the frequency of requests for imaging of the OMF region, most of the radiologists (82.8%) in our study have never consulted with an OMF radiologist. The majority of the radiologists (61.2%) reported not knowing an OMF radiologist, and another significant number (40.8%) had instead consulted with head and neck medical radiologists or neuroradiologists. In contrast, 80% were willing to collaborate with OMF radiologists in the future, and 70.7% supported establishing an online referral system to OMF radiologists. Conclusion: Most of the radiologists in this study were not aware of the subspecialty of OMF radiology. The majority of medical radiologists showed a positive attitude and willingness to collaborate with their dental counterparts. OMF radiologists should make their services available, accessible and proactively seek collaboration with other professionals.

Keywords: Oral and maxillofacial radiologist; Medical radiologist; OMFR; Interprofessional collaboration, Radiology

Medical Science, 2020, 24(106), 4719-4725

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