Efficacy of smoking prevention education by dentists

PURPOSE: At the same time as generating a clear picture of high school students' smoking habits, we examined how effective it was for dentists to provide them with smoking prevention education. METHOD: We chose one high school in Hiroshima City and asked 1003 of its students to fill in questionnaires anonymously before and after a lecture given by dental faculty on smoking. On a different day the students' oral health was examined by dentists. FINDINGS: The higher the year of the students the higher the percentage of those who had smoked at some time or smoking now. Among students not participating in any club activities, the higher the year the greater the number of smokers. Among the effects of smoking the one known to the largest number of students was found to be lung cancer, followed by oral disease. The questionnaires showed the percentage of students thinking that their family should give up smoking had increased by 6.3% from 55.9% to 62.2% by the end of the lecture, indicating that it was effective. Among the contents of the lecture which had impressed, photographs of cancer, dental damage and features Buerger's disease were mentioned in particular. CONCLUSION: It is advisable to show some photographs of cancer and Buerger's disease as well as talk about how smoking damages teeth when we embark on smoking prevention education. Our study confirmed the need for dentists to provide this kind of education.