Smoking status and attitude to tobacco control policy among periodontists of the Japanese Society of Periodontology

Abstract

：The aim of this study was to investigate the smoking status and attitudes toward tobacco control among periodontists of the Japanese Society of Periodontology, a non-profit organization. The questionnaires to determine the smoking status and attitude towards the tobacco control policy were mailed to 861 periodontists. Four hundred thirty-five of them(53.3%), of whom 70.3% were in their 40s and 50s, returned the completed questionnaire. The respondents were divided into university staff(27.8%), university hospital staff(6.4%), general practitioners(61.6%), and others(3.0%). The sample included 225 non-smokers(51.7%), 140 ex-smokers(32.2%), and 64 smokers(14.7%). Of the respondents, 58.1 % agreed that patients with periodontal disease should not smoke and 81.7% agreed that periodontists should get a fee for managing nicotine dependence. Also, 76.8% thought that periodontists can easily assist patients to quit smoking. Of the total, 71.2% agreed that periodontists should not smoke and 60.3% of the periodontists indicated that periodontists knew their patients' smoking status. About 77.6% pointed out that the majority of patients with severe periodontitis smoked and 89.6% stated that the healing capacity in smokers was impaired. In addition, 69.3% had helped patients quit smoking. However, 22.7% said that they had not helped patients quit smoking, because they did not have the time, patients refused their support, they could not get insurance marks, or they did not know how to support patients in their efforts to quit smoking. Thus, it is necessary to understand that periodontists have a chance to help their patients quit smoking and that support by periodontists to patients to quit smoking is effective. Most periodontists would take more time to support patients in their efforts to quit smoking if dental insurance for such assistance were available.

Health professional's perceptions of and potential barriers to smoking cessation care: a survey study at a dental school hospital in Japan

“…However, this needs to be interpreted with caution, since nearly two-thirds of the participants were women. The overall prevalence of smokers was higher than that (14.7%) reported for the certified periodontists [25]. Tobacco-using health professionals, including dentists, were reported to be less proactive than their non-using counterparts [15,28-30].…”

“…The efficacies of smoking-cessation intervention in dental or medical-dental settings were shown in Japan [ 4 , 17 ], suggesting the feasibility of integrating dentists and dental hygienists in a medical smoking cessation intervention. Encouragingly, in a recent survey study of 435 certified periodontists of the Japanese Society of Periodontology, a relatively high percentage (54.7%) of the participants indicated that they provide some form of smoking cessation care to their patients [ 25 ]. Initiatives are needed to further promote smoking cessation care in our practice setting.…”