2020 Volume 69 Issue 1 Pages 73-82
Objectives: To analyze the current status of smoking cessation promoted by dental clinics in Japan and to investigate the issues faced in promoting tobacco control measures through interprofessional collaboration.
Methods: A questionnaire survey on smoking cessation was conducted from October to November 2018. Of the 1,020 dental clinics that were sent the questionnaire, 406 responded (response rate: 40.0%). Of these, the 400 valid responses were included in the analysis set. The analysis consisted of basic tabulation and bivariate and multivariate analyses based on the status of collaboration. The significance level was set to below 5%.
Results: 91.5% of the respondents be aware of the current smoking status of patients, and 69.8% had performed examinations for smoking cessation during treatment for periodontal disease. 46.3% of them responded that there are problems with supporting smoking cessation, and that the most common problem (67.0%) was “smoking cessation is not included in the reimbursement of medical fees”. Meanwhile, 30.8% of the dental clinics were not doing anything in particular regarding education on smoking cessation, and 34.6% of those admitted to having problems with promoting cessation, stating the reason to be “inadequate smoking cessation skills.” Only 11.8% were promoting smoking cessation in collaboration with areas other than dentistry, while 91.5% were enforcing outpatient visits for smoking cessation treatment as well as collaborating with physicians.
Conclusions: The findings suggested that only a few dental clinics are supporting smoking cessation in collaboration with areas other than dentistry. They also demonstrated the need for education for dental healthcare personnel to improve their skills related to smoking cessation efforts.
