Prevalence of Smoking among Dental Students in Bangalore - A Questionnaire Based Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background and Objective Tobacco smoking in particular is recognized as an environmental risk factor for oral and systemic disorders. Despite the harm caused by smoking research indicates a significant prevalence of smoking among healthcare professionals. Our study aimed to ascertain the prevalence of smoking among dental students and interns and assess their knowledge and awareness regarding the impact of cigarette smoking on oral health.Methods A cross sectional study was conducted among 3rd year 4th year dental students and interns. To achieve the objectives of this study a questionnaire was created by altering the World Health Organizations Global Health Professional Students Survey GHPSS.Results Of the 268 respondents 107 39.9 reported to be smokers out of which 5.2 were aged between 11 and 16 years while 34 were older than 17 years. The majority of the research population was aware of the negative effects of smoking on dental health. Although research participants were aware of nicotine replacement therapy NRT those who smoked were found less likely to quit. Additionally professionals who smoked were less likely to counsel patients to quit with a statistically significant P value lt0.001.Conclusion Significant number of dental students had good overall knowledge about the effects of smoking but were unwilling to quit despite being well informed of the effects of smoking on specific oral health conditions indicating the need for additional education.