A recent survey evaluated primary care providers at the New York City Health+Hospitals/Jacobi Medical Center about their knowledge and practice behaviors concerning interprofessional collaboration with dentists and integration of oral health into healthcare delivery. The survey was administered to 181 attending physicians, internal medicine residents, nurses and physician assistants. Most respondents of the 119 respondents (71%) were physicians, aged 25-34 years old (56%), and women (69%). 80% had little to no training in oral health, and 85% had no team experience with oral health professionals. Providers' confidence in examining the oral cavity strongly corresponded with previous additional training and team experience. Current provider practices indicate that 69% rarely or never examine the oral cavity, 93% rarely or never assess fluoride intake, 83% rarely or never perform oral cancer screenings, and 64% rarely or never query a patient's dental health. The average score on oral health knowledge questions was 64%, ranging between 94% correct responses on knowledge of the systemic complications of oral infection and 40% correct responses on knowledge of common oral cancer sites. Interprofessional collaboration was most often obstructed by no formal relationship between medical and dental professionals, competing priorities and little electronic health record interoperability. "These findings support increased efforts to educate and train medical providers in order to guide and advance interprofessional collaboration and patient-centered care," the authors conclude.

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