Abstract
Tobacco abuse is a major preventable cause of premature death and disease, including various cancers. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey India (GATS) 2009-10 revealed that more than one-third of adults use tobacco in one form or the other. Nearly two in five smokers and smokeless tobacco users made attempts to quit the habit in the past 12 months. Tobacco dependence is a chronic condition characterized by susceptibility of relapse over years. It can be well handled by sustained professional support from health care providers mainly through behavioral counseling and pharmacotherapy. Dental professionals can play a pivotal role in diagnosing and effectively managing tobacco dependence. Dental Institutions have rapidly grown in last two decades across the country and so has the curriculum been adapted to improve student competencies to accommodate changing disease patterns and technological advances, but not in regard to tobacco cessation. Untapped dental manpower like undergraduates, dental hygienists and other paramedical staff need effective training to be more penetrative. The present review paper explores the potential role of dental training institutions and recommends various approaches to counter public health jeopardy of tobacco related diseases.
Highlights
Tobacco abuse and its hostile effects are known medical, dental and social concerns of global significance
The Global Adult Tobacco Survey, India 2009-10 revealed startling facts, where there was an evident change in pattern of tobacco usage from Smoke form (14%) to Smokeless form of Tobacco (25.9%), It was noticed that average age for initiation of tobacco use was 17.8 years with 25.8% of females starting tobacco use before the age of 15
The present review on role of dental institutions in tobacco cessation across India is based on compilation of the pertinent tobacco related literature
Summary
Tobacco abuse and its hostile effects are known medical, dental and social concerns of global significance. Tobacco abuse cessation and prevention is an essential strategy to reduce tobacco related mortality and morbidity, as the lack of which may result in an additional 160 million global deaths amongst smokers by 2050. Even in the absence of tobacco-related diseases in the mouth, the dentist can recognize patient’s tobacco status This fact renders dentists a favourable position in connection with tobacco intervention by pursuing more formal training in tobacco cessation counselling be as much a part of their job as plaque control and dietary advice. The potential of using dental clinics to promote tobacco cessation is largely realized but is ineffective due to absence of a structured approach They largely remain untapped resources for providing advice and brief counseling to current tobacco users. The present review paper tries to understand the role of dental institutions and provides future directives for these organized establishments to improvise and improve their contribution in controlling this public health problem
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