Attitude towards smoking and oral cancer prevention among Northern Italian dentists

The aim of the study was to evaluate the smoking habits of Northern-Italian dental practitioners and their basic skills in the prevention of oral cancer. 217 of the 250 dental practitioners (86.8%) contacted by telephone from September to December 1994, answered a simple questionnaire. One third of the sample interviewed was formed by current smokers; nevertheless 60.8% of them always advise their patients to give up smoking. Only a relatively small percentage of the questioned dental practitioners (10.6%) do not examine the oral mucosa of the patients on a regular basis and 40% of responders had made a clinical diagnosis of oral cancer in the past. The lack of a specific dental education was associated with less scrupulous examination of the oral soft tissues and minor experience of cancer diagnosis. Despite their smoking habit, Northern Italian dental practitioners self-reported encouraging behaviour towards primary and secondary oral cancer prevention.