Survey of dental clinic patients: smoking and preferences for cessation support
Open accessAbstract
Background: Smoking cessation interventions delivered by dental practitioners can be as effective as those delivered by general medical practitioners. However, concern that addressing smoking may cause offence to their patients is a reason cited by dental practitioners for not regularly addressing patient smoking behaviours, despite believing they should play a role in smoking cessation. This study aimed to elicit the smoking behaviour and smoking cessation preferences of dental patients to determine if these concerns accurately reflect patient attitudes. Methods: We surveyed 726 adult dental patients attending The University of Queensland's School of Dentistry dental clinics, Brisbane Dental Hospital and four private dental practices in South‐East Queensland. Results: Most (80%) current daily smokers had tried to quit smoking. Smokers and non‐smokers both agreed that dentists should screen for smoking behaviour and are qualified to offer smoking cessation advice (99% and 96% respectively). Almost all participants (96%) said they would be comfortable with their dentist asking about their smoking and that if their smoking was affecting their oral health their dentist should advise them to quit. Conclusions: Patients are receptive to dental practitioners inquiring about smoking behaviour and offering advice on quitting. Smoking patients showed considerable motivation and interest in quitting smoking, particularly in the context of health problems related to smoking being identified. These results should encourage dentists to raise the issue with their patients.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Tobacco interventions delivered in dental settings including brief advice and nicotine replacement therapy increase abstinence by 2.7 times compared to usual care.
“Tobacco interventions delivered in dental settings including brief advice and nicotine replacement therapy increase abstinence by 2.7 times compared to usual care [7].”
From A National Dental Practice-Based Research Network phase II, cluster-randomized clinical trial assessing nicotine replacement therapy sampling in dental settings: study protocol for the Free Samples for Health (FreSH) study (2024) · cites this paper as [7]
The Introduction (p. 4) identifies brief advice and nicotine-replacement therapy as cessation options for dental practitioners. The Discussion (p. 13) reports that brief interventions have been shown to increase abstinence compared with no treatment or usual care, but gives a 13% increase, not 2.7 times, and does not attribute that effect to a combined brief-advice-and-NRT intervention. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredTobacco interventions delivered in dental settings are effective.
“Tobacco interventions in dental settings are effective, but rarely delivered.”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Part of this paper’s reference list could not be split into single entries.
Global epidemiology of oral and oropharyngeal cancer
Warnakulasuriya, S. (2008) · Oral Oncology · doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2008.06.002 · Cited by 3,450 · see citing works
A Clinical Practice Guideline for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update
(2008) · American Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2008.04.009 · Cited by 1,410 · see citing works
Understanding the potential of teachable moments: the case of smoking cessation
McBride, C. M. (2003) · Health Education Research · doi:10.1093/her/18.2.156 · Cited by 1,162 · see citing works
Natural history of potentially malignant oral lesions and conditions: an overview of the literature
Napier, S. S., & Speight, P. M. (2007) · Journal of Oral Pathology and Medicine · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0714.2007.00579.x · Cited by 622 · see citing works
From victim blaming to upstream action: tackling the social determinants of oral health inequalities
Watt, R. G. (2007) · Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0528.2007.00348.x · Cited by 556 · see citing works
Twyman, L., Bonevski, B., Paul, C. L., & Bryant, J. (2014) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006414 · Cited by 467 · see citing works
Physician advice for smoking cessation
Stead, L. F., Bergson, G., & Lancaster, T. (2008) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd000165.pub3 · Cited by 445 · see citing works
Interventions for tobacco cessation in the dental setting
Carr, A. B., & Ebbert, J. O. (2012) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd005084.pub3 · Cited by 267 · see citing works
Supporting smoking cessation: a guide for health professionals.
Zwar, N. A., RICHMOND, R. L., Borland, R., Peters, M. J., Litt, J., Bell, J., Caldwell, B., & Ferretter, I. T. (2012) · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Effectiveness of Tobacco Counseling in the Dental Office
Warnakulasuriya, S. (2002) · Journal of Dental Education · doi:10.1002/j.0022-0337.2002.66.9.tb03577.x · Cited by 178 · see citing works
A Systematic Review of Peer-Support Programs for Smoking Cessation in Disadvantaged Groups
Ford, P. J., Clifford, A., Gussy, K., & GARTNER, C. E. (2013) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph10115507 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Self-citationPATIENT PERCEPTIONS OF TOBACCO CESSATION SERVICES IN DENTAL OFFICES
Campbell, H. S., Sletten, M., & Petty, T. L. (1999) · The Journal of the American Dental Association · doi:10.14219/jada.archive.1999.0171 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Chambrone, L., Preshaw, P. M., Rosa, E. F., Heasman, P. A., Romito, G. A., Pannuti, C. M., & Tu, Y. (2013) · Journal Of Clinical Periodontology · doi:10.1111/jcpe.12106 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
The relationship of smoking to localized osteitis.
Sweet, J. B., & Butler, D. P. (1979) · PubMed · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Does the 'inverse screening law' apply to oral cancer screening and regular dental check-ups?
Netuveli, G., Sheiham, A., & Watt, R. G. (2006) · Journal of Medical Screening · doi:10.1258/096914106776179836 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Motivational Interviewing in the Treatment of Psychological Problems
Baker, A. (2009) · Drug and Alcohol Review · doi:10.1111/j.1465-3362.2009.00129_6.x · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Lubin, J. H., Muscat, J. E., Gaudet, M. M., Olshan, A. F., Curado, M. P., Maso, L. D., Wünsch‐Filho, V., Sturgis, E. M., Szeszenia‐Dabrowska, N., Castellsagué, X., et al. (2011) · Cancer Causes & Control · doi:10.1007/s10552-011-9792-x · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Rikard‐Bell, G., Donnelly, N., & Ward, J. (2003) · BDJ · doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.4809899 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Garner, L., & Ratschen, E. (2013) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-951 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Cooper, J., Borland, R., & Yong, H. (2011) · Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1111/j.1753-6405.2011.00733.x · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Training for dentists in smoking cessation intervention
Trotter, L., & Worcester, P. (2003) · Australian Dental Journal · doi:10.1111/j.1834-7819.2003.tb00030.x · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Survey of Australian oral health practitioners and their smoking cessation practices
Ford, P. J., Tran, P., Keen, B., & GARTNER, C. E. (2015) · Australian Dental Journal · doi:10.1111/adj.12270 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Self-citationAustralian dentists' educational needs for smoking cessation counseling.
Rikard‐Bell, G., & Ward, J. (2001) · PubMed · doi:10.1080/08858190109528737 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Oral health therapists: what is their role in Australian health care?
Ford, P. J., & Farah, C. S. (2012) · International Journal of Dental Hygiene · doi:10.1111/j.1601-5037.2012.00564.x · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Self-citationAfifah, R., & Schwarz, E. (2008) · Australian Dental Journal · doi:10.1111/j.1834-7819.2008.00051.x · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Evidence-based tobacco cessation treatment by dental hygienists.
Studts, J. L., Burris, J. L., Kearns, D. K., Worth, C. T., & Sorrell, C. (2011) · PubMed · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Freeman, T., ROCHE, A. M., Williamson, P., & Pidd, K. (2012) · Nicotine & Tobacco Research · doi:10.1093/ntr/ntr329 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
The Pharmacist “Toolbox” for Smoking Cessation
Wynn, W. P., Stroman, R. T., Almgren, M. M., & Clark, K. J. (2012) · Journal of Pharmacy Practice · doi:10.1177/0897190012460823 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Smoking cessation and response to periodontal treatment
Alexandridi, F., Tsantila, S., & Pepelassi, E. (2017) · Australian Dental Journal · doi:10.1111/adj.12568 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
A Pilot Study into the Association between Oral Health Status and Human Papillomavirus—16 Infection
Sun, C., Bennett, N. J., Tran, P., Tang, K. D., Lim, Y., Frazer, I. H., Samaranayake, L. P., & Punyadeera, C. (2017) · Diagnostics · doi:10.3390/diagnostics7010011 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Self-citationChan, H. L., Chan, A. K. Y., Chu, C. H., & Tsang, Y. C. (2023) · Frontiers in Oral Health · doi:10.3389/froh.2023.1266467 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
“As a dental professional, utilizing the personal oral effects (e.g., periodontitis causing tooth loss, drifted teeth, tooth staining, oral cancer) and positive treatment outcome might be useful to motivate patients in smoking cessation (37, 38).”
InfluentialErku, D., GARTNER, C. E., Tengphakwaen, U., Morphett, K., & Steadman, K. J. (2019) · Drug and Alcohol Review · doi:10.1111/dar.12984 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Self-citationBatı, B. Ç., Buduneli, N., & Meriç, P. (2024) · Tobacco Induced Diseases · doi:10.18332/tid/176227 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Dentists are trained to treat and instruct patients on proper preventive measures to reduce oral health problems 10,11 .”
BackgroundOliveira, A. S., & Guerreiro, M. P. (2017) · Drugs & Therapy Perspectives · doi:10.1007/s40267-017-0388-8 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
General Practitioners and Dentists: A Call for Action Against Tobacco
Gallus, S., Lugo, A., Garattini, S. K., Pacifici, R., Mastrobattista, L., Marzo, G., & Paglia, L. (2016) · Nicotine & Tobacco Research · doi:10.1093/ntr/ntw162 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Mapping tobacco use cessation counselling awareness in dental offices: a cross-country survey
Dhanapriyanka, M., Silva, R. R., Warnakulasuriya, S., Jayasekara, P., Silva, D. D., Moraes, R. R., Do, L., & Ha, D. H. (2025) · BMC Oral Health · doi:10.1186/s12903-025-05544-y · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Research highlights the critical role of dental professionals could play in supporting tobacco cessation [19– 21].”
Pilot trial of nicotine replacement therapy sampling in a dental care clinic
Bloom, E. L., Carpenter, M. J., Walaska, K., Hunt, L., Keable, K., Rayani, M., & Japuntich, S. J. (2020) · Journal of Smoking Cessation · doi:10.1017/jsc.2019.17 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Jiang, X.-P., Li, C., Zhou, L.-J., Qiu, X.-L., Wang, W.-F., Cao, W.-J., Li, H., & Tang, L. (2025) · International Dental Journal · doi:10.1016/j.identj.2025.100896 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“19,20 A Cochrane review determined that dental professionals are capable of effectively implementing behavioural interventions for tobacco cessation, thereby enhancing the likelihood of achieving sustained abstinence from tobacco use.”
The rate of tobacco smoking among dental school students in Turkey
Gürlek, Ö., Başer, Ü., Beklen, A., Güncü, G. N., Hakki, S. S., Haytaç, M. C., Kuru, L., Lütfioğlu, M., Meriç, P., Olgun, E., et al. (2019) · Journal of Ege University School of Dentistry · doi:10.5505/eudfd.2019.49379 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Fang, P., Adkins-Hempel, M., Lischka, T., Basile, S., Rindal, D. B., Carpenter, M. J., Kopycka-Kedzierawski, D. T., Dahne, J., Helseth, S. A., Levy, D. E., et al. (2024) · BMC Oral Health · doi:10.1186/s12903-024-04758-w · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“About half of adults who smoke visit a dentist annually [5] and the majority of patients who smoke would be motivated to make a quit attempt if encouraged by a dental practitioner [6].”
BackgroundJapuntich, S. J., Dunbar, M. S., Predmore, Z., Bloom, E. L., Fang, P., Basile, S., Rindal, D. B., Waiwaiole, L. A., Carpenter, M. J., Kopycka‐Kędzierawski, D. T., et al. (2023) · Community Dentistry And Oral Epidemiology · doi:10.1111/cdoe.12937 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Challenges to be overcome: Current situation involving smoking cessation in Dental setting
de Almeida, A. Á., Bandeira, C. M., Carta, C. F. L., Kaminagakura, E., & Almeida, J. D. (2017) · Brazilian Dental Science · doi:10.14295/bds.2017.v20i3.1442 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Cockburn, N., GARTNER, C. E., & Ford, P. J. (2018) · Drug and Alcohol Review · doi:10.1111/dar.12691 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Previous and future quit attempts For self-reported current smokers, previously used quit methods were abrupt cessation (42%, n = 78), NRT (25%, n = 45), prescription medications (23%, n = 43), e-cigs (9%, n = 17) and other methods (3%, n = 6).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-citationMishler, O. P., Trembley, C., Oates, T. W., & Oh, S. (2025) · BMC Oral Health · doi:10.1186/s12903-025-06300-y · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Dental Students as Smoking Cessation Counsellors: Patients’ and Providers’ Perspective
Nor, N. A. M., Repen, M. C., Zakaria, Z., Ab‐Murat, N., Saub, R., & Razak, I. A. (2018) · IIUM Medical Journal Malaysia · doi:10.31436/imjm.v17i1.289
Tobacco Turmoil in Teens and Preparedness of Pediatric Dentists: A Global Survey
Virk, I., Agnihotri, A., Sood, P., Arora, R., & Bansal, N. (2023) · International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry · doi:10.5005/jp-journals-10005-2579
Varmazyari, S., Bozorgi, P., Bastani, P., & Khami, M. R. (2025) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-7669664/v1
Mahasneh, A. M., Yusuf, H., & Mathur, M. R. (2026) · International Journal of Dental Hygiene · doi:10.1111/idh.70152
Beyond Asking and Advising: Smoking Cessation Practices and Motivation Among Dentists in Germany
Gruber, L. J., Schramm, L. M., Hoene, G., Rödiger, M., Schliephake, H., & Wolfer, S. (2026) · International Dental Journal · doi:10.1016/j.identj.2026.111117
Mazur, M., Nijakowski, K., Ndokaj, A., Jedliński, M., Duś‐Ilnicka, I., Çolak, İ., Salerno, C., Veneri, F., Ardan, R., Cagetti, M. G., et al. (2026) · Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1007/s10389-026-02899-6
- Authors
- Ford, P., Tran, P., Cockburn, N., Keen, B., Kavanagh, D., & Gartner, C.
- Affiliations
- School of Dentistry The University of Queensland Herston Queensland Australia
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Australian Dental Journal
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-05-27
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 219-226
- ISSN
- 0045-0421 (ISSN-L)
- 1834-7819
- OpenAlex
- W2117191912
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 1.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Australian Dental Journal (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Queensland Early Career Researcher Grant awarded
- University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research Summer Research Scholarship
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Dental Health and Care Utilization
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral Health Pathology and Treatment
- Keywords
- smoking cessation, dental patients, smoking behavior, smoking screening, dentist-patient communication, oral health, patient attitudes
- MeSH terms
- Smoking Prevention, Adult, Attitude to Health, Dental Clinics, Dentist-Patient Relations, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Patient Education as Topic, Preventive Health Services, Queensland, Surveys and Questionnaires, Smoking Cessation, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
