Finnish Dentists Find Smoking Cessation Important but Seldom Offer Practical Support for Their Patients

Area of Science:

• Dental Public Health
• Tobacco Control
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Smoking cessation is a critical public health issue.
• Dentists play a role in patient health, including smoking cessation.
• Understanding dentists' practices is key to improving cessation support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess Finnish dentists' attitudes towards smoking cessation.
• To evaluate their consultation practices and guideline adherence.
• To identify barriers to effective smoking cessation interventions in dental settings.

Main Methods:

• An online survey was distributed to 1740 dentists in Finland.
• Data from 456 respondents (26% response rate) were analyzed.
• Dentists' practices were compared with those of Finnish physicians.

Main Results:

• Dentists recognize the importance of smoking cessation and often discuss it with patients.
• However, concrete withdrawal support is infrequently provided.
• Only 36% of dentists actively used the local smoking cessation guideline, though adherence correlated with better outcomes.
• Barriers included lack of time (44%) and education (42%).

Conclusions:

• While dentists discuss smoking cessation, their concrete actions to support patient withdrawal are limited.
• Adherence to the local treatment guideline enhances dentists' ability to manage tobacco withdrawal and promote cessation.
• Increased education on the guideline and cessation interventions is recommended to address barriers and improve dental practice-based smoking cessation efforts.