Tobacco Use Cessation: Attitudes of Dental Fraternity of Moradabad City (India)

Abstract

Background: The issue of tobacco control had almost unanimous support among public health professionals. It is therefore apparent that the dental care system should be involved in tobacco prevention and tobacco cessation. Objective: To assess dental students’ and practicing dentists’ perceptions of tobacco cessation content in curriculum and attitudes concerning their professional responsibility to help users quit tobacco. Methods: The study was conducted with Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) 3rd year students, Interns and practicing dentists of Moradabad city (India). A 17-item questionnaire focused on attitudes of dental fraternity, professional responsibilities, effectiveness and scope of Tobacco Use Cessation (TUC) practice in dental setting. Results: Statically significant difference is seen among responses of dental fraternities, with students having less positive attitudes than practicing dentists (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Attitudes of the participants appear to be positive and encouraging, but they feel unprepared and needed further training in TUC.

Global Status of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Tobacco Cessation Interventions Among Dental Professionals: A Systematic Review

“…Most of the studies had included questions evaluating the same. More than 75% of the healthcare professionals in about eighteen studies 18,24,25,28,29,31,33,37,[39][40][41][42]46,48,49,57,64,62 showed a positive attitude towards advising patients to quit tobacco. Similar findings were reported by Goel D, 77 where favorable attitudes were observed in spite of poor practice regarding tobacco counseling.…”

“…Risk of bias analysis was conducted using Newcastle Ottawa scale 14 (Table 2). Upon quality assessment, 9 studies 17,28,30,32,47,51,54,70,64 had high quality of evidence, thirty six studies 15,16,19,22,[24][25][26][27]29,31,[33][34][35][36][37][41][42][43][44][48][49][50]53,55,59,67,65,62,63,66,69,71 were of moderate quality.…”

“…Tobacco Use Insights n n Among the fifty six included studies, the majority (twenty-one) of the studies were conducted in South East Asia Region countries, followed by 9 studies in Eastern Mediterranean Region. A total of twenty six studies were conducted among dental students and interns, 3 [41][42][43] among dental hygienists, twenty two 27,[29][30][31][32][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56] among dental practitioners, 3 [57][58][59] among pediatric dentists and 2 60,61 among oral surgeons (Table 1).…”

“…Figure 3 depicts thirty seven studies 15-18,23-26,28-33,36, 37,39-42,44-46, 48-50,52,55-57,61,64,65,68,70,71 which assessed the attitude of dental professionals towards tobacco cessation counseling. A positive attitude was observed among the dental professionals in the majority of the studies 18,[23][24][25][28][29][30][31][32][33]37,[39][40][41][42]46,48,49,[55][56][57]61,64,65,68,70 regarding advising patients to quit tobacco. Responses to negative impact of tobacco cessation counseling were also included and studies 16,18,24,30,32,33,[40][41][42]45,50,52,56,70,65,71 were found to be less negative towards tobacco cessation counseling as a part of clinical practice.…”

“…It was also observed that brief counseling was more prevalent as compared to prescribing NRT, 22,29,35,37,43,49,51,59,68,66 drugs. 22,41,44,49,68,66 All twelve studies 15,21,30,35,36,44,46,49,57,58,68,66 reported that study participants had a formal training in tobacco cessation (Figure 5) and among thirty one 16,18,19,22,26,[28][29][30][31][32][33]35,37,39,41,42,44,48,50,52,53,55,…”