title: Attitudes of dental professionals toward tobacco use.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The habit of tobacco consumption has plagued all nations from time immemorial. While tobacco use is decreasing in many developed countries, it is increasing in developing countries like India. Health care professionals have a key role to play to motivate and advise tobacco users to quit.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to assess the attitudes and practice of dental professionals in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai toward tobacco cessation and the potential barriers faced.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaire-based survey was conducted with 500 dental surgeons in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. The questionnaire contained close-ended questions and assessed the smoking status of the professional, whether they impart tobacco cessation advice to their patients, whether the professional is trained for basic intervention, whether they would be eager to undergo training and also the potential barriers encountered by the professional.
  
  
  METHODS
  The SPSS version 17 was used. Frequencies and percentages were used to determine distributions of the responses for each of the variables. Chi-square test was used for analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was observed that the majority of dental clinicians do not use tobacco and although 93% believed that it is the role of the dental professional to offer advice, 21% do not. Potential barriers reported were: Little chance of success, lack of training, lack of time, lack of remuneration, and the possibility of losing patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dental professionals must expand their horizon and armamentarium to tobacco intervention strategies inclusive of their regular preventive and therapeutic treatment modalities. Furthermore, the dental institutions (schools) should include tobacco intervention in the curriculum, but it should not be just theoretical knowledge rather it must have a practical component.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Terna Dental College, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Dipika Kalyan
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Terna Dental College, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Sudarshana Devendrasing
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Pawar
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Terna Dental College, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Anahita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mandal
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Terna Dental College, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Rohit Ajay
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Terna Dental College, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Silvia Victor
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Terna Dental College, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Ankit Bharat
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Terna Dental College, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Pragalbha Nandkumar
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Pathare
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Terna Dental College, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Saurabh Hemant
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Shingnapurkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Terna Dental College, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Harshad Narayan
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Vijayakar
keywords: Attitudes; barriers; dental professionals; tobacco cessation