Are oral health complaints related to smoking cessation intentions?

Smoking influences oral health in several ways (such as the occurrence of periodontitis, teeth discolouration and oral cancer); therefore, smoking behaviour should be addressed in dental care. Dentists can play a role in primary and secondary prevention of tobacco dependence. They see their patients repeatedly over time. This study investigates whether oral health complaints can be seized as an opportunity to start smoking cessation counselling.

A structured patient questionnaire in a sample of 1101 smokers (52.1% women, mean age 40.4 years) in a convenience sample of 87 primary care dental practices. The I-change model was used to describe factors influencing behavioural change. Dependent factors such as intention to quit smoking and related factors (attitude, social support and self-efficacy) were analysed in relation to independent factors such as oral health complaints (gingiva problems, gingiva inflammation, oral cancer and discoloured teeth) using a general linear model (univariate analysis), multinomial logistic regression analysis and multiple linear regression analysis.

A total of 56.3% had discoloured teeth, 27% of the smokers had a problem with their gums and 15.7% had gingiva inflammation. We found no direct relation between oral health complaints and the intention to quit smoking. However, teeth discolouration was positively related to attitudes towards smoking cessation [β, Confidential interval (95%); 1.92 (1.45-2.40 for advantages and -0.86(-1.18 to -0.53) for disadvantages] and negatively to self-efficacy regarding quitting [-2.69 (-3.49 to 1.88)].

We found no direct relation between oral health complaints and the intention to quit smoking, but oral health complaints and especially teeth discolouration were related to factors influencing the quit intention. Patients with discoloured teeth are more likely to have a positive attitude towards smoking cessation but are uncertain to persist smoking cessation. It is suggested that teeth discolouration can be a good entrance for addressing smoking cessation in daily dental practice.