Utilisation of a brief tobacco smoking cessation intervention tool in public dental services.

Abstract

Dental practitioners have an important opportunity to promote smoking cessation. This study aimed to determine how many smokers attended West Moreton Oral Health Service (WMOHS), completion rates for the standardised Smoking Cessation Pathway, and smoking cessation practices, confidence levels and attitudes of dental practitioners in WMOHS. A mixed-methods approach collected clinical and demographic data from a retrospective audit of WMOHS reports from 1 August 2017 to 31 July 2019 and a cross-sectional survey of WMOHS dental practitioners. Logistic regression models determined factors associated with smoking status and delivery of the Pathway. Over 24months, 14,919 courses of care (COC) were completed. Twenty-five percent of patients identified as current smokers. The Pathway was delivered in 54% (n=1999) of smokers' COC, which was significantly associated with patient age (aOR 0.99 [CI 0.99, 0.99; P<.001]), Indigenous status (aOR 1.47 [CI 1.05, 2.08; P=.02]) and high socio-economic status (aOR 1.41 [CI 1.06, 1.88; P=.02]). Practitioners identified lack of time and training as the main barriers to Pathway completion. High-risk populations for tobacco use are frequently utilising WMOHS, however not all patients who smoke received smoking cessation support. Understanding and addressing barriers to smoking cessation promotion in oral health care settings may improve general and oral health outcomes for patients. SO WHAT?: Targeted training and utilisation of team-based models of care may better enhance delivery and uptake of the Pathway within the public dental setting, thus improving services to a high-need population and reducing smoking rates in priority populations.