Smoking Cessation Practices in Dental Offices

Abstract

We have surveyed the health promotion efforts of dentists and dental hygienists in general dental practice in Chittenden County, Vermont, in relation to smoking. The response rate was 61 percent. Smoking issues were addressed by 76 percent of dentists and 81 percent of dental hygienists in approximately one quarter of their smoking patients. Although the majority of both dentists and dental hygienists advised their patients to change their smoking behavior, their advice was usually to cut down rather than to quit. Most of the respondents--78 percent of dentists and 93 percent of dental hygienists--considered it appropriate to give advice about smoking during visits for routine dental care and 68 percent and 89 percent, respectively, were willing to learn brief methods of advising their patients about smoking. Experience with giving advice about smoking and agreement that it was appropriate to give such advice were both strongly related to willingness to learn brief methods of giving such advice. In individual dental practices, there were virtually no correlations between the dentist's and the dental hygienist's behaviors as far as the proportion of patients from whom a smoking history was taken, the proportion of smokers advised about smoking, the content of the advice, or the nature of the advice. Only nine percent of dentists and 11 percent of dental hygienists were current smokers.

Dentists' attitudes and practice regarding smoking

“…7 Surveys of dentists in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Finland and the UK have consistently found that the majority of dentists believe it is a p p r o p ri at e for them to counsel patients about tobacco use. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Similarly, in the only published Australian study located regarding dentists and smoking, only 2 per cent of dentists surveyed in 1993 felt that a patient's smoking habits were not their business. 15 H owe ver, even though dentists may have favo u r a b l e attitudes to the provision of advice, this is often not reflected in their practice.…”

Attitudes and Behaviors of Dental Hygienists Concerning Tobacco Use

“…Given the scope of their clinical practices and educational roles, dental hygienists are the ideal persons for targeting tobacco-using patients, delivering health education messages, and facilitating patient cessation. Interest in this potential role is apparent (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28). Recent studies, although limited in scope and few in number, have examined dental hygienists' personal health habits, health promotion behaviors, and characteristics of hygienists' interactions with smoking patients (18)(19)(20)(21)(22).…”

“…Interest in this potential role is apparent (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28). Recent studies, although limited in scope and few in number, have examined dental hygienists' personal health habits, health promotion behaviors, and characteristics of hygienists' interactions with smoking patients (18)(19)(20)(21)(22). OShea et al's study (21) provides the most specific and in-depth overview of dental hygienists' attitudes and behaviors in relation to smoking patients.…”

“…In addition, the study does not address smokeless tobacco use or analyze the statistical relationships among subjects' sociodemographic characteristics, personal health promotivebehaviors, and their practices, attitudes, and perceptions regarding tobacco-using patients. While Secker-Walker et al' s study (22) does analyze the relationship between dental hygienists' smoking behaviors and hygienists' select interactions with smoking patients, the sample includes only 27…”

Smoking Cessation Intervention: The Practices of Maternity Care Providers

“…5 -8 This rate compares poorly to quit rates of alternative programs such as educational videotapes (19 percent),5 individual counseling by trained counselors (9 to 15 percent),6,9 pregnancy-specific self-help booklets or manuals (14 to 17 percent),8,10 and multiple component programs (11 to 32 percent).1l-I4 The latter combined mailings, personal Submitted Two special smoking cessation interventions reported quit rates above 50 percent: the Indiana State Department of Health Prenatal Use Prevention Program,17 and a University of Vermont program that provided special training for obstetric and family practice residents in giving brief, structured advice to their smoking prenatal patients. 18 Additionally, smoking cessation efforts in pregnant women have been shown to be cost-effective. 12 Despite our knowledge of the occurrence of smoking during pregnancy, its related health consequences, and the success rates and cost-effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions, very little is known about the actual smoking intervention practices of maternity care providers.…”