New Dental Project Help Smokers

A team from the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Dentistry will research the effects of computerised clinical-decision support (CDS) systems on smoking cessation interventions by dentists and dental hygienists.

(CDS systems are computer programs that are designed to provide expert support for health professionals making clinical decisions. The goal of these systems is to help health professionals analyse patient data and make decisions regarding diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of health problems).

Smoking is a primary risk factor for diseases such as periodontal disease caused by an infection that destroys the bone surrounding and supporting the teeth, and oral cancer. The research study is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of CDS to improve brief tobacco interventions and referrals to tobacco quitlines.

Dentists and dental hygienists will be able to engage their smoking patients in the course of usual dental care by the CDS being integrated within two commonly used electronic dental-record systems.

The School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and the Indiana University School of Dentistry as well as 16 private practice clinics from the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network will be testing the tobacco CDS.

The project aims to:

Evaluate the impact of the tobacco CDS on the frequency of provider delivery of brief smoking interventions and quitline referrals.

Assess the impact of tobacco CDS on smokers’ cessation and reduction actions.

Examine providers’ barriers and facilitators to delivering the intervention, including knowledge, motivation, and self-efficacy.

The project team is made up of researchers from across a range of universities, including Harvard Medical School, University of Pittsburgh, Indiana University and the University of Sydney.

For more information on quitting smoking, please do not hesitate to contact DentalCareXtra. Alternatively, complete the form below, and one of our friendly team members will contact you.