Tobacco use is a public health burden worldwide and smoking has a definitively negative effect on the health status of the oral cavity. Dental professionals have proven to be in an exceptional situation to assist cessation. Several publications have described the methods of cessation in the dental office, but only few did examine its acceptance by the patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accaptance of tobacco cessation counseling performed by dental professionals.
Method:
A written questionnaire was filled in by 294 dental patients - 149 patients (95 female, 52 male) of the outpatient clinic of the University of Szeged, Faculty of Dentistry and 145 patients (95 female, 50 male) from private dental offices - and 412 dental and medical students (236 female, 176 male). Demographic data were collected, and questions were asked about tobacco use, readiness to quit, and the acceptance of professional help in cessation.
Result:
Of the private and university patients, 26.90% and 24.83% were smokers (respectively), while 27.01% of the students smoked. Approximately 68% of the smokers wished to quit smoking, and there was no significant difference between the groups (i.e. patient or student). Among the private patients, university patients and studens, the acceptance of general medical help was 37.50%, 28.95% and 31.67%, whereas the acceptance of the help of a dentists was 62.50%, 63.16% and 64.71%, respectively.
Fisher’s Exact Test revealed a significant relationship between the profession of the counselor and acceptance of counseling (p<0.05). 34.5% of smokers said they would accept counseling from a dental professional only, and only 4.06% said they would accept counseling only from a medical doctor.
Conclusion:
Within the limitations of this study, it can be concluded that dental patients, dental students and medical students prefer a dental professional to a GP for cessation counseling.