Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2012 Jun;143(6):602-13.
doi: 10.14219/jada.archive.2012.0239.

The effect of training on the use of tobacco-use cessation guidelines in dental settings

Margaret M Walsh  1 , Marilyn Belek, Preeti Prakash, Barbara Grimes, Barbara Heckman, Nathan Kaufman, Richard Meckstroth, Catherine Kavanagh, Jana Murray, Jane A Weintraub, Steven Silverstein, Stuart A Gansky
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

The effect of training on the use of tobacco-use cessation guidelines in dental settings

Margaret M Walsh et al. J Am Dent Assoc. 2012 Jun.

Abstract

Background: An increase in the number of dentists conducting tobacco-use cessation treatment is needed. The authors assessed the effects of high-intensity training (HIT) or low-intensity training (LIT) and reimbursement on general dentists' tobacco-use-related attitudes and treatment behaviors.

Methods: The authors randomly selected 265 dentists in three states and assigned them to one of five groups: HIT workshop groups with and without tobacco-use cessation counseling reimbursement, LIT mailed self-study groups with and without reimbursement or a control group. Outcomes at follow-up were dentists' self-reported tobacco-use-related attitudes and behaviors and patients' reports of dentists' behaviors.

Results: Significantly more dentists in the intervention groups reported having positive attitudes and behaviors at follow-up than did dentists in the control group. Dentists in the HIT groups, however, reported assessing patients' willingness to quit and assisting them with the quitting process significantly more often than did dentists in the LIT groups. Significantly more patients of dentists in the intervention groups who used tobacco reported receiving advice and assistance from their dentists than did patients of dentists in the control group. Adding reimbursement to HIT or LIT conditions did not provide additional intervention effect.

Conclusion: Dentists trained by means of a workshop or self-study program used components of a recommended guideline more frequently and felt more positive toward tobacco-use cessation counseling than did dentists in the control group.

Clinical implications: Although the workshop training was more successful than the self-study training, the latter's reach among dentists could have a more significant public health impact. The effect of reimbursement needs further study.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

  • Tobacco-use cessation.
    Zablotsky N. Zablotsky N. J Am Dent Assoc. 2012 Sep;143(9):962-3; author reply 963. doi: 10.14219/jada.archive.2012.0308. J Am Dent Assoc. 2012. PMID: 22942136 No abstract available.

References

    1. U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual smoking-attributed mortality, years of potential life lost, and productivity losses: United States, 1997–2001. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2005;54(25):625–628. - PubMed
    1. U.S. Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General; National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Public Health Service, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; 2004.
    1. Gelskey SC. Cigarette smoking and periodontitis: methodology to assess the strength of evidence in support of a causal association. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 1999;27(1):16–24. - PubMed
    1. Tomar S, Asma S. Smoking-attributable periodontitis in the United States: findings from NHANES III. J Periodontol. 2000;71(5):743–751. - PubMed
    1. Chuang SK, Wei LJ, Douglass CW, Dodson TB. Risk factors for dental implant failure: a strategy for the analysis of clustered failure-time observations. J Dent Res. 2002;81(8):572–577. - PubMed

Publication types