Due to the epidemiological transition and the changes in mortality patterns, as well as the increasing life expectancy of the population, it has become increasingly necessary to pay attention to the health of older adults. The objective of the current study was to assess the perceived knowledge and attitudes of dentists and to identify the barriers they encounter in providing oral care to geriatric patients.

Over half of the respondents felt confident in their knowledge, while the majority believed that geriatric dentistry should receive more attention at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Dentist age, level of experience, working in multiple settings, and the proportion of older patients treated daily were associated with a higher level of perceived knowledge. Additionally, 78% of respondents believed that delivering dental care to older adults involved technical limitations. A more positive attitude among participating dentists was also associated with an increased proportion of older adults’ patients treated daily, while the highest level of perceived barriers was associated with working at governmental sector and in Upper Egypt. Nearly, 68% of study respondents agreed that they would like to attend a geriatric dentistry course or congress, which may be due to the fact that geriatric dentistry is not studied as a separate course during undergraduate education in Egypt. Moreover, 56% of participants completely agreed and 21% partially agreed that older adults should attend dental examinations more frequently than younger patients. This high percentage may be due to dentists’ understanding that with increasing age, the demand for oral health increases, but it is often neglected, especially in low-middle income countries like Egypt, where older patients may only visit the dentist if they have a problem or may never visit at all [26].

In the present survey, over half of the participants (52.3%) reported having adequate knowledge of the adverse effects associated with common geriatric medications. Additionally, an overwhelming majority of the respondents (96.0%) believed that dental schools should prioritize the acquisition of knowledge and skills related to the treatment of older adults. This is a higher percentage compared to the findings from previous studies conducted in Croatia (70.6%) and the Netherlands (84.4%) [15, 18]. The high percentage in the current study should be due to, as explained before, geriatric dentistry is not studied as a separate course in Egyptian dental schools. This is in accordance with the recommendations of Ettinger [27] who stated that dentists should provide treatment for older adults only after receiving adequate education and training in various aspects of aging and patient care. These findings highlight the need for dental schools to incorporate more geriatric dentistry training into their curricula to better equip future dentists with the necessary knowledge and skills to provide optimal care for older patients. In addition to the importance of continuing education and training for dentists to ensure they are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to provide appropriate care for older patients.

The findings of this study indicate that the level of experience is positively associated with a higher level of perceived knowledge among dentists in the treatment of older patients. This aligns with the results of a study of Bots-VanSpijker et al. [18] which also reported a positive correlation between dental experience and knowledge of geriatric dentistry. These findings suggest that dental professionals with more experience may have a better understanding of the unique oral health needs of older patients and may be better equipped to provide appropriate care. In contrast, Moreira et al. [23] reported that younger dentists expressed a higher level of knowledge of geriatric dentistry than their more experienced colleagues. It is possible that these conflicting findings may be due to differences in the study populations, methodology, or other factors. Further research may be needed to better understand the relationship between age, experience, and knowledge of geriatric dentistry among dental professionals.

The current study found a significant positive association between the proportion of geriatric patients seen by dentists in their daily practice and their perceived knowledge and attitudes towards geriatric dentistry, while also reporting lower barriers to providing care for older patients. These findings are consistent with previous studies, [15, 16, 18] which have also reported a positive correlation between the amount of experience treating older patients and knowledge of geriatric dentistry. Exposure to a larger number of geriatric patients can provide dentists with valuable experience and knowledge in this area, which can improve their ability to provide appropriate care. It is worth noting that Ettinger [27] recommended that dental students should gain adequate clinical experience working with older adults and medically compromised patients to develop the necessary skills in treatment planning and feel confident in providing care for these populations. These recommendations emphasize the importance of clinical exposure and experience in the education and training of dental professionals in geriatric dentistry.

According to a study of Malaysian dentists, the vast majority of governmental dentists were willing to provide in-home care for older adults regardless of their demographic characteristics, with dentists under the age of 30 being significantly more willing to provide the service [21]. In the current study, almost 47.0% of the participants believed that they were prepared to make regular home visits to older adults for dental examination, and 41.7% agreed that treating older adults is not very challenging. These findings are consistent with the findings of Bots-VantSpijker et al. [18] in the Netherlands (42%), while only 18.7% believed so in Croatia, which may be attributed to the difference in training received or wide availability of mobile dental unites in different countries. Moreira et al. [23] found that Brazilian female dentists showed a more positive attitude towards geriatric care, but the current study found that male dentists showed a more positive attitude, which may be explained by the higher number of patients they treated daily. However, no statistically significant difference was found between male and female dentists in the study done by Tahani et al. [17] in Iran.

In terms of the common barriers encountered in daily practice when treating older adults, the results demonstrated that an increased proportion of older patients visiting the respondent’s clinics per day (ranging from 11 to 30%) was associated with a decrease in perceived barriers. This finding is in line with the results of a study conducted by Bots-VanSpijker [18]. In the current study, 72.9% of the participants acknowledged that providing oral healthcare to older individuals is challenging due to its complexity and practical obstacles. This challenge can be attributed to the complex medical conditions prevalent in the older population, characterized by a higher incidence of disorders such as cardiovascular disease, dementia, and neurological diseases [18]. Furthermore, 61.8% stated that their workplace is easily accessible to older adults with no major obstacles. The fact that 40% of participants indicated there are limited options for referring older patients with complex dental issues to fellow specialists can be attributed to the absence of geriatric dentistry as a distinct specialty in Egypt. This situation often necessitates referring the patient to multiple specialists, which can be challenging, particularly for older patients. The findings of the current study concluded, in contrast to the findings obtained by the studies conducted in Croatia, Belgium, and the Netherlands [15, 16], that only 17.4% of the respondents found that insufficient reimbursement is a barrier to the professional commitment to this particular group of patients. This may be explained by differences in social or cultural beliefs between the dentists in different countries.

Dentists working in the governmental sector expressed a higher level of barriers with no statistically significant difference in their knowledge or attitude compared to their colleagues in other health sectors. This may be explained by the increased funding and more equipped facilities in the private and academic sectors compared to the governmental sector.

This study has some limitations. It was based on online questionnaire participation, which may have been influenced by participants’ interest in the subject or time spent on social media. Therefore, future paper-based studies are needed to confirm the findings of this study. However, a large percentage of the general population uses the internet and social media in Egypt (72.2%) [28], so we think that the population of this study is expected to be representative of dentists in Egypt. Another limitation is that undergraduate students were excluded from this study, so future studies are needed to assess their level of knowledge as they are the future of the dental profession. Lastly, the use of age categories for data collection, although practical, may not facilitate an in-depth analysis of age-related trends or relationships. On the other hand, this study is the first to investigate geriatric dental care in Egypt, and it utilized a valid questionnaire that enhance the internal consistency of the study findings.