Attitude, Practice and Perceived Barrier for Tobacco Cessation Counseling and Nicotine Replacement Therapy among Private Dental Practitioners of North India: A Web based Survey.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the attitude and practices towards the Tobacco Cessation Counselling and Nicotine Replacement Therapy and identify the possible barriers towards the implementation of these practices amongst Private dental practitioners of North, India.  Methodology: A cross sectional web based survey using 33 item pre-tested self administered questionnaire was conducted. A total of 250 valid responses were received and were available for analysis. Using the statistical package SPSS Version 23 the statistical analysis was done. The survey results was disseminated in accordance with the CHERRIES criteria for sharing E-survey results.

RESULTS: There was a response rate of 78.12 %. 69% of the subjects were offering tobacco cessation counseling while only 20.4% were actually practicing NRT. 52% believed that NRT along with counseling increases the rate of successful quitting the habit. 98% believed that they lacked formal training to introduce NRT for patients.

CONCLUSION: Though study subjects had a positive attitude towards tobacco cessation and Nicotine Replacement Therapy, it does not reflect their current practice. Dental practitioners must get ongoing education in order to enhance their skills in prescription NRT, as a major obstacle to providing NRT is a lack of formal training.