Preventing tobacco use in Norwegian dental practice

Tobacco Use and Cessation Counseling among Dental Professionals in Saudi Arabia

The study aimed to assess the prevalence of tobacco use among dental professionals and their attitudes and behaviors about tobacco cessation counseling in Saudi Arabia. A total of 359 male and female dental professionals participated in this cross-sectional study. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was administered among study participants by visiting dental hospitals and clinics in Saudi Arabia. In the study, 15.9% of the participants were current tobacco users and 50.4% had a tobacco user at home or the workplace. Most participants reported that tobacco use is associated with bad breath (88.9%), oral cancer (88.3%), dryness of the mouth (80.8%), and bad taste (79.9%). Most participants asked patients about their tobacco habits (86.6%), mentioned tobacco habits in patient records (71.3%), and explained the benefits of quitting tobacco (79.9%). Less than half the sample (47.1%) referred patients to tobacco quitting services/programs. Male gender (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 5.50, 95% CI 2.48−12.23, p < 0.001), having a tobacco user at home/the workplace (AOR 3.18, 95% CI 1.57−6.45, p 0.001), and believing that tobacco cessation counseling was a waste of time (AOR 2.32, 95% CI 1.13−4.76, p 0.021) were associated with significantly increased odds of tobacco use among dental professionals. The study concluded that tobacco use was common among dental professionals despite their awareness of the adverse effects of tobacco. Reduction in tobacco use and promotion of counseling skills among dental professionals should be achieved through public health measures.

Prevention of snus use: Attitudes and activities in the Public Dental Service in the south-eastern part of Norway

Dental health care professionals have the opportunity to play a key role in tobacco prevention and cessation among adolescents. Snus use has increased in Norway, especially in the age group 16-24, whereas there has been a decline in smoking. This study investigated attitudes and activities related to snus prevention among dental health care professionals working in the Public Dental Service (PDS) in south-eastern Norway. A web-based survey with a total of 557 dentists and dental hygienists in seven counties in Norway, with a response rate of 53.5%, was carried out in 2017. Dentists' and dental hygienists' activities regarding preventive snus use intervention were analysed using the chi-square test. Intervention was measured with a score (1-5) based on four questions. Bivariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to investigate the associations between the explanatory variables of attitudes/activities and the outcome intervention variable. Approximately 87% of the dentists and 58% of the dental hygienists were not familiar with the "minimum intervention method" for tobacco prevention and cessation. Dental hygienists were most active in informing and supporting their patients in prevention and cessation of snus use. The PDS is an underutilized arena for tobacco prevention and cessation among adolescents, and the intervention potential is particularly high among the dentists.

Tobacco Use Cessation: Attitudes of Dental Fraternity of Moradabad City (India)

Background:The issue of tobacco control had almost unanimous support among public health professionals. It is therefore apparent that the dental care system should be involved in tobacco prevention and tobacco cessation.Objective:To assess dental students’ and practicing dentists’ perceptions of tobacco cessation content in curriculum and attitudes concerning their professional responsibility to help users quit tobacco.Methods:The study was conducted with Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) 3rd year students, Interns and practicing dentists of Moradabad city (India). A 17-item questionnaire focused on attitudes of dental fraternity, professional responsibilities, effectiveness and scope of Tobacco Use Cessation (TUC) practice in dental setting.Results:Statically significant difference is seen among responses of dental fraternities, with students having less positive attitudes than practicing dentists (p < 0.001).Conclusion:Attitudes of the participants appear to be positive and encouraging, but they feel unprepared and needed further training in TUC.

Necessity and readiness for smoking cessation intervention in dental clinics in Japan

BACKGROUND

The necessity and readiness for smoking cessation intervention in dental clinics was assessed by investigating smoking status and stage of behavior change in patients and the attitudes of dentists toward the effects of smoking on their patients, respectively.

METHODS

A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to 1022 dentists randomly selected from the Japanese Dental Association database. The questionnaire survey consisted of 1 section for dentists and 1 for patients aged 20 years or older and was scheduled to be completed at the dentists' clinics on a designated day in February 2008.

RESULTS

The response rate to the questionnaire was 78.2% from among target dental clinics and 73.7% and 74.7% for patient and dentist questionnaires, respectively. Data from 11,370 patients and 739 dentists were analyzed. The overall smoking prevalence among the patients (25.1%) was similar to that reported by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and young female patients had a markedly higher smoking prevalence. More than 70% of patients who smoked were interested in quitting. Although the prevalence of current smoking among dentists (27.1%) was significantly higher than that reported among Japanese physicians (15.0%), approximately 70% of dentists were concerned about the effects of smoking on patient health and prohibited smoking inside their clinic.

CONCLUSIONS

Many smokers who were interested in quitting, particularly young women, visited dental clinics, and most dentists believed that smoking was harmful for their patients. These results indicate that smoking cessation intervention in dental settings is necessary and that dentists are ready to provide such interventions.

Attitudes of Italian dental and dental hygiene students toward tobacco-use cessation

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the smoking habits of Italian dental and dental hygiene students and to assess their knowledge on the health effects of cigarette smoking and their attitudes toward tobacco-use cessation (TUC) in dental practice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data was collected from 220 students attending the Dental and Dental Hygiene Schools (DS and DHS, respectively) at the University of Palermo (Italy).

RESULTS

The percentage of smokers amongst DS and DHS students was similar (32.78% vs. 32.5%) with 67.77% of DS students and 77.5% of DHS agreeing that the damages to health caused by smoking were covered in their didactic course work. A high percentage of DS (63.33%) and DHS (67.5%) students reported the relationship between smoking and a number of associated health conditions. Both DS and DHS students showed poor knowledge of TUC interventions. Both DS and DHS students reported to be conscious of their own role as a counsellor, with DHS students feeling more comfortable in approaching counselling in clinical practice. Although DS and DHS students reported a positive attitude toward TUC interventions, almost half of the students had some concerns about the effectiveness of smoking cessation activities.

DISCUSSION

The introduction of a comprehensive tobacco education curriculum in DS and DHS programs could further improve students' perceptions and attitudes and provide knowledge and clinical experience which would lead to the incorporation of TUC into subsequent professional practice.

Attitudes of Irish dental, dental hygiene and dental nursing students and newly qualified practitioners to tobacco use cessation: a national survey

BACKGROUND

Ireland has some of the strictest smoking regulations in the world. Little is known of the attitudes of student Irish dental healthcare workers towards tobacco control and tobacco use cessation. This study aimed at determining the knowledge and attitudes of these students towards the deleterious effects of tobacco in the mouth and towards tobacco use cessation in dental practice.

METHOD

A questionnaire survey was distributed to 654 students (including newly qualified) on dentistry, dental hygiene and dental nursing programmes in Irish dental schools. Information sought included college, course, year of study, sex, age, nationality, smoking status, knowledge of effects of tobacco in the mouth and attitudes towards tobacco use cessation in dental practice and towards the Irish smoking bans.

MAIN FINDINGS

There was a 90% response rate. In all, 12% of dental students, 25% of dental hygiene students and 31% of dental nursing students were current smokers. Newly qualified dental hygienists were as knowledgeable about tobacco effects in the mouth as newly qualified dentists. Overall, the majority in each student category believed that all three groups could be effective tobacco counsellors and should provide tobacco use cessation counselling to patients, although less than half of evening course dental nursing students felt that dental nurses could be effective counsellors or should provide counselling. There was overwhelming support for the Irish smoking ban. Only a minority of dental students and dental nursing students had received instruction in tobacco use cessation counselling.

CONCLUSIONS

There are strong positive attitudes to tobacco use cessation counselling in dental practice among these young dental healthcare students. This is true even amongst those who have not received specific instruction in tobacco use cessation counselling.

An international review of tobacco smoking among dental students in 19 countries

This study was conducted as a systematic review of all modern literature describing the prevalence of tobacco smoking among dental students. An electronic keyword search of appropriate terms was initially undertaken to identify relevant material, after which the reference lists of manuscripts were also examined to locate additional publications. A total of 27 studies from 19 countries were identified. The earliest manuscripts appeared in 1970, with the most recent being published in 2006. From a global perspective, our review suggests that tobacco smoking is relatively uncommon among contemporary dental students in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain and the United States. This is not surprising however, as it has previously been noted that dentists generally smoke at one of the lowest rates among all health professionals, and much lower than that of the communities in which they live. Somewhat discouragingly, we did find that smoking remains quite common among dental students in countries such as Greece, Serbia, Romania and Hungary. Given the fact that some of the student body continue to smoke tobacco, it is clear that more aggressive tobacco-specific measures should become a mandatory component of global dental education in future years.

Patient feedback as a motivating force to quit smoking

OBJECTIVES

The effectiveness of a brief intervention by dental professionals utilizing feedback of oral symptoms and dental treatments specifically relevant to smoking was examined in terms of it being a motivating factor to quit smoking.

METHODS

Information pertaining to the present study was mailed to 208 dental clinics and 45 dentists agreed to participate. Dental patients who currently smoked were assigned consecutively to either an intervention (IG) or nonintervention group (NG) in each clinic during the 6-month experimental period. In IG, dental professionals provided brief explanations regarding oral symptoms and dental treatments specifically relevant to smoking. The effectiveness of intervention was evaluated with respect to attempts to quit and progression through the stages of behavioral changes involved in quitting using the standardized questionnaire.

RESULTS

Dropout was considerable; 10 clinics terminated their participation. Questionnaires of 797 patients (IG, 416; NG, 381) were received from 35 clinics and the records of 497 patients (IG, 248; NG, 249) were analyzed. Among patients in IG and NG, 12.1% and 4.8% reported attempts to quit, respectively. Odds ratios of quitting attempts and progression and regression through the stages of behavioral changes adjusted for sex, age, and stage at the first visit were 2.2 (95% confidence interval: 1.04, 4.5), 1.7 (1.1, 2.8), and 0.28 (0.15, 0.53) for all patients, respectively, and 3.1 (1.3, 7.5), 2.1 (1.3, 3.4), and 0.21 (0.11, 0.44), respectively, for patients who were not ready to quit. Trends in the movement through stages differed because of the stage at the first visit.

CONCLUSIONS

As a result of the limitation imposed by the considerable dropout number, we concluded that a brief intervention by dental professionals potentially motivates smokers with respect to their attempts to quit smoking and promotes behavioral changes involved in quitting.

A comparison of tobacco smoking among dentists in 15 countries

This study was conducted as a systematic review of all modern literature describing the prevalence and associations of tobacco smoking among dentists. A keyword search of appropriate MeSH terms was initially undertaken to identify relevant material. Reference lists of manuscripts were also examined to locate further publications. A total of 35 English-language studies published in the past 25 years met the inclusion criteria. Results suggest that the prevalence of smoking is generally quite low among dentists, and that it has also declined in many countries during recent years. The lowest rates were documented in the United States (USA), Thailand, Finland, Australia and Canada. When multiple studies were examined over time, it appears that dentists in Australia and the USA consistently report the lowest prevalence. Overall, this review suggests that dentists have one of the lowest smoking rates among all health professionals. There were a few exceptions however, namely Italy and Jordan, where dentists appear to be smoking at fairly high rates. Nevertheless, it is important that tobacco usage continues its decline in future years so that the dental profession may remain exemplars at the forefront of preventive oral care.

Tobacco smoking prevalence among a cross-section of dentists in Queensland, Australia

The purpose of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of tobacco smoking among dentists in Queensland, Australia. We utilized an anonymous, self-reporting questionnaire which was posted to 400 dentists during 2004. The overall response rate was 72.1%, among whom the prevalence of current smoking was estimated to be 3.9% (95%CI: 2.2-6.9), with a further 11.0% being ex-smokers (95%CI: 7.9-15.2). Smoking rates varied by age, with 6.1% of dentists aged younger than 30 years who were smokers. The lowest smoking prevalence was seen among dentists aged between 30 and 40 years (1.4%), and the highest among those aged over 60 years (7.1%). Regarding weekly work hours, the highest smoking prevalence was seen among dentists who worked between 25 and 35 hrs per week (6.8%). Ex-smokers were more likely to work less than 25 hrs per week (21.7%). Smoking rates also varied by career length, with the lowest prevalence among dentists who had worked 10 to 20 years (1.3%) and the highest rate among those who had worked over 40 years (6.7%). A similar trend was revealed for ex-smokers, with prevalence rates of 1.7% and 33.3%, respectively. Overall, our study suggests that the prevalence of smoking is rather low among Queensland dentists. As the distribution of smoking was not uniform however, future preventive measures will need to consider the individual situation of dentists who smoke, particularly those in the older age groups.