Dental practitioners self reported performance of tobacco cessation counseling interventions: a cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and behaviors of the practicing dentists regarding tobacco cessation counseling (TCC) in Chhattisgarh state and also the barriers that prevent them from doing so.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted among dental practitioners of Raipur district, Chhattisgarh state (India). The sampling frame was registration with the State Dental Council and practicing in Raipur district. A questionnaire was personally administered and the practitioners were given explanations regarding how to complete it. Only descriptive statistics were calculated (SPSS version 16 for Windows).

RESULTS: Based on the responding dentists' self reports, 76% were not confident in TCC, 48% did not assume TCC to be their responsibility, 17% considered that it might have a negative impact on their clinical practice, whereas 24% considered it might take away precious time from their practice, 25% considered TCC by dentists to be effective to a considerable extent and 80% considered TCC activities are not effective due to lack of formal training, 69% considered dental clinics as an appropriate place for TCC but 82% thought there must be separate TCC centre and 100% of the dentists wanted TCC training to be a part of practice and that it should be included in dental curriculum. Some 95% of them were of the view that tobacco products should be banned in India and 86% responded that health professionals must refrain from tobacco habits so to act as role models for society.

CONCLUSIONS: Dental professionals must expand their armamentarium to include TCC strategies in their clinical practice. The dental institutions should include TCC in the curriculum and the dental professionals at the primary and the community health care level should also be trained in TCC to treat tobacco dependence.