Implementation of Recommended Tobacco Cessation Systems in Dental Practices: A Qualitative Exploration in Northeastern North Carolina

Every year, cigarettes and other tobacco products cause nearly one in five deaths in the U.S., but many smokers report not being advised to quit by their health care providers. Dentists have an important role to play in tobacco cessation, but more research is needed about the extent of and barriers to implementation in dental practices. The aims of this study were to assess the extent to which dental practices in northeastern North Carolina were implementing the recommended U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Clinical Practice Guideline, to understand policies about smoking in dental practice settings, and to identify barriers to implementation of recommended systems. In the 252 telephone area code, which covers northeastern North Carolina, 75 general dentists were identified from the American Dental Association website and purposely selected for geographic, gender, race, and practice size diversity from the sampling frame. The 11 dentists who agreed to participate (seven male, four female) took part in 15-minute semi-structured interviews by phone in January-March 2017. The interview transcripts were thematically coded for adherence to the PHS guideline. The results showed that full implementation of the guideline and the 5As was limited, although asking, advising, and assessing about tobacco use was consistently present in these dental practices. Other recommendations, particularly designation of a staff member as coordinator, were not implemented. In terms of barriers, interviewees reported very limited past or present training for themselves or their staff members. This study found meaningful levels of adherence to the tobacco cessation guideline in this area with high smoking prevalence; but the results suggest room for improvement in training through both dental curricula and continuing education.