Key Points
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This paper provides useful feedback from patients regarding dentists' current rates of smoking cessation advice.
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Dental patients expect dentists to be interested in all relevant health issues. It appears that smoking cessation advice by dentists will not alienate patients who smoke.
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However, patients lack confidence in dentists' ability specifically to assist them to quit.
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Less than one in three smokers would make a quit attempt if advised by their dentist to do so.
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Smoking cessation advice by dentists is not self-evidently effective. To ensure that dentists maximise their limited time with patients, more rigorous research is required to establish efficacy of smoking cessation advice when delivered by dentists before admonishing changes in clinical practice.
Abstract
Objective To investigate patients' views regarding dentists' smoking cessation advice.
Design Survey questionnaire.
Setting One hundred and thirty five dental practices in Sydney Australia. Subjects Two thousand, four hundred and fifty one dental patients.
Results One thousand, one hundred and sixty pre-consultation questionnaires were obtained (RR=80%), 302 (26%) were self-reported smokers. From these, 623 post-consultation questionnaires were returned (RR = 54%). Most patients expected dentists to be interested in their smoking status (n = 847/1160, 73%, 95% CI: 70% to 76%) and to discuss smoking with them (n = 713/1160, 61%, 95% CI: 59% to 64%), however, smokers were significantly less likely to respond as such compared with non-smokers (P < 0.001). Smokers and non-smokers equally would not change dentist even if asked about their smoking status opportunistically (59% versus 62%) (OR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.67 to 1.22). Less than one third of all smokers would try to quit if their dentist suggested they do so (n = 90/302, 30%, 95% CI: 25% to 35%). Smokers' recall of quit advice from their recent consultation was low (n = 22/124, 18%).
Conclusions Smoking cessation advice by dentists is not self-evidently effective. These findings behove interventional research to ascertain efficacy of smoking cessation advice delivered by dentists before admonishing changes in routine clinical practice.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the dentists and patients who participated in this project and Ms Mary Bourke for dedicated research assistance. This study was funded with a grant-in-aid from the National Heart Foundation of Australia and approved by the Ethics Review Committee (Royal Prince Alfred Hospital).
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Rikard, G., Donnelly, N. & Ward, J. Preventive dentistry: what do Australian patients endorse and recall of smoking cessation advice by their dentists?. Br Dent J 194, 159–164 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4809899
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4809899
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