Quitting Smoking Could be a Phone Call Away

Ivanhoe Newswire
Wednesday, May 30, 2007; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Many people avoid going to the dentist, but what if your dentist could help you quit smoking? Most dentists advise their patients to quit smoking, but now patients are getting another line of help, a telephone "quitline."

The number of tobacco-related illnesses and deaths is significantly reduced when dentists intervene with patients to help them stop using tobacco. However, health care professionals may not have the time or resources to provide such support to patients wishing to stop smoking. A pilot study was then conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minn., to evaluate if referring patients to tobacco-use quitlines was not only less time consuming, but also a sufficient method to help patients quit smoking.

Eighty-two patients were followed in this study; 60 patients were referred to the tobacco-use quitlines, and 22 received only brief counseling. After six months, 25 percent of the patients in the quitline group had given up tobacco compared to more than 27 percent of the patients in the brief-counseling group who quit. Researchers found if the patients in the quitline group completed more telephone consultations, they were even more likely to abstain from tobacco.

"Referring dental patients who smoke to a tobacco use quitline is a feasible strategy for helping people quit smoking efficient links can be established between the dental practice and the quitlines," the authors write in their conclusion.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Dental Association, 2007;138(5):595-601