Related Experiment Videos
A smoking cessation programme conducted through dental practices in the UK
S E Smith1, K A Warnakulasuriya, C Feyerabend
1Department of Oral Medicine and Pathology/WHO Collaborating Centres for Oral Cancer and Precancer, King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry, London.
British Dental Journal
|November 6, 1998
Summary
Primary care dentists can provide smoking cessation advice, with 11% of participants successfully quitting tobacco after 9 months. However, significant attrition and practice variations were observed in this feasibility study.
Area of Science:
- Dental Public Health
- Tobacco Control
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Primary care settings offer opportunities for smoking cessation interventions.
- Dental teams are well-positioned to deliver public health advice, including smoking cessation.
- Assessing the feasibility of integrating smoking cessation support into routine dental practice is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the feasibility of dentists and dental teams providing smoking cessation advice.
- To examine the success rates of a smoking cessation program delivered in UK primary care dental practices.
- To determine the role of dental professionals in community tobacco control.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study involving 54 UK primary care dental practices.
- Dental teams received training and educational materials for smoking cessation.
- Nicotine patches were offered, and salivary cotinine assays validated smoking status at 9 months.
Main Results:
- Only 22 of 54 practices recruited patients, with 154 eligible patients evaluated.
- Follow-up compliance was low, with only 74 patients reporting at 9 months.
- 11% (17/154) of patients successfully quit smoking, validated by salivary cotinine assay.
Conclusions:
- Motivated dental teams can contribute to tobacco control efforts.
- The program's success rate is comparable to general medical practice settings.
- High attrition rates and variable practice performance limit the generalizability of findings to individual settings.