ORIGINAL PAPER Survey of Tobacco Control Among Florida Dentists Claudia T. Succar • Patrick C. Hardigan • Jay M. Fleisher • Jeffrey H. Godel Published online: 17 August 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract Cigarette smoking contributes to the largest number of preventable deaths with a recent report esti- mating that nearly 5 million annual deaths worldwide and 400,000 in the United States were attributed to cigarette smoking. Dentists, in particular, are in a unique position to educate their patients about the health effects of tobacco. Tobacco cessation knowledge, behaviors, and compliance of Florida dentists were assessed using survey methodol- ogy. The survey was administered to a random sample of 6,000 dentists, which was provided by the Florida Depart- ment of Health. The survey inquired about (1) general demographic information, (2) Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange behaviors, (3) barriers to the incorporation of tobacco cessation activities, and (4) willingness to partici- pate in further training. A large majority of dentists (88%) are not familiar with the concept of the Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange behaviors when asked directly. When asked about each individual component of this approach, however, dentists had much higher response rates. Dentists were best at routinely asking (59%), advising (46%), & assessing (32%) their patients about their smoking. How- ever, they were much less helpful when assisting and arranging follow-up (70% stated that they never arrange follow-up). This study discovered that the majority of dentists who counsel patients spend only 1–4 min. Sixty-six percent of the dentists surveyed were willing to receive specific training, with 50% preferring an online course and 42% preferring a continued education course. Keywords Survey Á Tobacco Á Cessation Á Florida Á Dentists Introduction Importance of Smoking Cessation Cigarette smoking contributes to the largest number of pre- ventable deaths with a recent report estimating that nearly 5 million annual deaths worldwide were attributed to cigarette smoking [1]. Each year in the United States, approximately 440,000 people die of a cigarette smoking-attributable ill- ness, which results in approximately 5.6 million years of potential life lost, $75 billion in direct medical costs, and $82 billion is lost productivity. In 2000, an estimated 8.6 million people in the United States alone had a serious illness attributable to smoking [2]. In addition to tobacco’s associ- ation with medical illness, such as coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and numerous can- cers, it also contributes to a number of oral conditions, such as oral cancer [3], leukoplakia/erythroplasia [4], periodon- titis [5], and delayed wound healing [6]. Brief advice against smoking, defined by the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group as ‘‘verbal instructions to stop C. T. Succar Á J. H. Godel Department of Orthodontics, College of Dental Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, 3200 South University Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33328, USA C. T. Succar e-mail: succar@nova.edu J. H. Godel e-mail: godel@nova.edu P. C. Hardigan (&) Á J. M. Fleisher Masters of Public Health Program, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, 3200 South University Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33328, USA e-mail: patrick@nova.edu J. M. Fleisher e-mail: jmfleish@nova.edu 123 J Community Health (2011) 36:211–218 DOI 10.1007/s10900-010-9299-5