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

BACKGROUND: 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.

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

METHODS: 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).

RESULTS: 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.

CONCLUSION: 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.