ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oral Health
Sec. Oral Epidemiology
Evaluation of the degree of knowledge of gingival melanosis between professionals and students: observational and cross-sectional study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Universidad Europea de Valencia SLU, Valencia, Spain
- 2Universidad Europea de Madrid SLU, Madrid, Spain
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Introduction: Gingival melanosis is characterized by a change in the physiological color of the gingiva, that usually ranges from brown to black. It can be a source of discomfort for affected people, an attractive gingivabeing associated with a pink color. The main objective of this study was to compare knowledge about gingival melanosis between fourth- and fifth-year dental students and dental professors at the European University of Valencia. Methods: The conduct of this cross-sectional observational study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the European University of Valencia. The survey used was drafted by the authors of the study. Participants completed the questionnaire between February and March 2024. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS 23.0. Results: Significant differences were found between the knowledge of both groups regarding monthly and annual detection frequency (p<0.001), diagnostic with the DOPI index (p=0.048), treatment options (p<0.001), recurrence (p=0.004) and impact on the patient's life (p=0.012). Professional knowledge was higher, except regarding the impact. Conversely, there were no significant differences in the detection of gingival melanosis, etiologies, the ways to transmit information to the patient and diagnosis using the melanin and gingival pigmentation indices. Conclusions: It can be concluded that teachers' knowledge is more important in terms of detection frequency, use of the DOPI index, treatment options and recurrence, except for the impact on the patient's life. However, in terms of detecting gingival melanosis in the oral cavity, possible etiologies and diagnostic methods such as the melanin and gingival pigmentation index, knowledge is the same between both groups.
Keywords: gingival melanosis, diagnosis of gingival melanosis, treatment of gingival melanosis, Survey, dentists' and students' dental knowledge, knowledge and attitudes of oral health professionals
Received: 18 Sep 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Alfaro-Ochoa, Arias-Herrera and Dupin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Lourdes Alfaro-Ochoa, lourdes92c@hotmail.com
Santiago Arias-Herrera, santiagoemilio.arias@universidadeuropea.es
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