Pediatric Dentist's role in Tobacco Counseling for Children: Parental Attitudes

Objectives: To obtain information regarding parental attitudes towards pediatric dentists (1) counseling their children regarding tobacco use and (2) counseling parents regarding parents' tobacco use.

Methods: Parents who brought their children to a dental school pediatric dental clinic for treatment were invited to respond to a questionnaire. Only one survey per family was offered.

Results: 173 parents were approached. 150 (87%) responded, but only 147 were completed. This included 45 (31%) smoking households. 65% were female, 35% were completed in Spanish and the rest English. Their children were aged 8.2 years, SD 3.4. Parents were more likely to approve of the dentist talking to their child than they were to approve of the dentist talking to them, Friedman test, p<.000. But in both cases parents were more likely to approve than disapprove of the dentist counseling (about 80% vs. 8% for counseling the child compared to 74% vs. 11% for counseling the parent.) Tobacco status of parent did not affect approval of counseling on any issue. Mean age that parents preferred the dentist to talk to children about smoking was 8.5 years, SD 3.6. 31% of smoking households reported no household rules about smoking, indicating children at risk for second-hand smoke.

Conclusion: Over 75% of parents would accept counseling of themselves and their children from pediatric dentists about tobacco. In this clinic, 30% of parents used tobacco, and 30% of those households did not have rules against household smoking, indicating that the pediatric dentist could have an impact on children's and parents' health by tobacco counseling.