Can Dentists Help Patients Quit Smoking? The Role of Cessation Medications

Clinical trials show the efficacy of dentists' counseling in smoking cessation. However, little is known about the effectiveness of such advice in the general population of smokers.

To examine the association between dentists' advice, use of cessation medications and quitting behaviours in the general population of adult smokers in Ontario, Canada.

Data were from the Ontario Tobacco Survey panel study, which followed people who were smokers in July 2005 semi-annually for up to 3 years until June 2011. Baseline smokers, who were seen by a dentist during the study, were included in the analysis (n = 2714 with 7549 observations). Logistic regression analysis with generalized estimating equations was used to examine associations among dentists' advice, use of cessation medications and quitting outcomes (quit attempts and short-term quitting ≥ 30 days).

Those who received dentists' advice were more addicted to tobacco, compared with those who did not receive dentists' advice (self-perceived addiction to tobacco: 96% vs. 89%, p < 0.001). Dentists' advice alone was not associated with making an attempt to quit smoking or short-term quitting. However, receiving dentists' advice in conjunction with cessation medications was associated with a higher likelihood of quit attempts (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 9.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] 7.77-12.47) and short-term quitting (adjusted OR 3.19, 95% CI 2.20-4.62), compared with not receiving dentists' advice and not using cessation medications.

Dentists play an important role in smoking cessation, because they can encourage patients to stop smoking and promote success by advising patients to use cessation medications.