Dentists Urge Patients to Quit Smoking

Recent research shows that after some dentists got tobacco cessation training, they were about twice as likely to counsel patients to quit smoking.

The research was performed by the researchers from the New York University College of Dentistry. The study involved six different dental clinics at the college, the first thing the researchers did was to look at nearly 700 patient charts in order to see if dental health professionals were asking patients about tobacco use and offered help in quitting.

The research showed that only one out of four dentists provided tobacco cessation advice to smokers.

After the study was finished, they provided training to dental offices, instructing the dentists on how to provide tobacco cessation advice and providing the dental professionals with the info on how to assess the level of smoking addiction. Additionally, the dentists were taught how to assist patients to successfully quit the use of tobacco, offering free nicotine replacement treatments. After what, twice more patients were advised to quit.

The researchers were testing whether the changes would help to implement recent guidelines from the U.S. Public Health Service. The guidelines urge health professionals to identify tobacco use in patients.

Source: Journal of Dental Education