The Kenyan Dentist and Tobacco Use

Objective: To determine the extent to which Kenyan dentists are involved in the reduction of tobacco use among their patients. Methods: A cross-sectional countrywide postal survey. Subjects: All general dental practitioners and dental specialists as registered by the Kenya Medical Practitioners & Dentist Board by year 2000. Results: The prevalence of current smoking was 5.2% all of whom were male. The majority (93.2%) had never tried to use tobacco while only 4.1% of the practices did not have a smoke-free environment. Most dentists (75.3%) see at least 30 patients every week with 31.6% seeing over 60 patients per week. The majority (85.2%) reported that up to 30% of their patients smoke but only 51.2% regularly talked to smoking patients about the habit. Lack of training (39.6%) and time (39.3%) were the most commonly cited reasons for not engaging in cessation discussions. Most dentists (93.1%) thought they had a role to play in cessation activities mainly because of the negative health effects of tobacco (78.9%). Surprisingly, 81.4% of the dentists were not aware of formal cessation programmes operating in the country. Conclusions: The proportion of smokers among dentists in Kenya is very low when compared to the general population. Though the opportunity exists, dentists have not yet maximized their efforts to reduce the level of smoking among their patients. They also need to be active in the identification, documentation and treatment of every tobacco user as a matter of routine in their dental practice.