Serving underserved and hard-core smokers in a dental school setting

Area of Science:

• Dental Public Health
• Behavioral Science
• Clinical Practice Guidelines

Background:

• Tobacco cessation is integral to comprehensive dental care.
• Implementing clinical practice guidelines for tobacco cessation in dental settings faces challenges.
• Underserved, high-risk smokers in dental clinics often have significant financial burdens and multiple risk factors (dental, medical, psychiatric).

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a multidisciplinary approach to tobacco cessation within a dental school clinic.
• To explore innovative strategies for overcoming barriers to providing smoking cessation services to underserved and high-risk populations.
• To enhance dental students' skills in managing difficult-to-treat tobacco use cases.

Main Methods:

• Establishment of a tobacco cessation clinic in a dental school setting.
• Integration within an academic medical center.
• Multidisciplinary team approach to patient care.

Main Results:

• The clinic provides a platform for dental students to gain experience with complex cases.
• Enhanced intervention skills are developed for application in primary care dental settings.
• The approach aims to reduce barriers for high-risk smokers seeking cessation services.

Conclusions:

• A dental school clinic setting can facilitate effective multidisciplinary tobacco cessation interventions.
• Training dental students in managing difficult tobacco cessation cases improves future practice.
• Innovative approaches are crucial for addressing the needs of underserved, high-risk smokers in dental care.