Training of oral health professionals in tobacco use prevention and cessation using motivational interviewing techniques

Saturday, October 8 thru Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Munchenwiler Castle, Switzerland

Introduction

The influence of tobacco on oral health has been the subject of numerous scientific studies worldwide over the past few years. Thus it has been well established, that the use of tobacco products has a detrimental effect on the periodontal tissues and the oral mucosa. This issue has given the dental team a whole new task to tackle. As the dental team is in regular contact with their patients for a number of years, it is quite reasonable for tobacco use cessation to be incorporated in the list of tasks in the clinicians’ daily practice.

The dental team should be educated and trained with the knowledge and skills required to be able to promote and maintain behavior change in relation to instruction of oral hygiene practices, tobacco cessation and dietary intervention.

Previous elaborations

Behavior change models, such as motivational interviewing (MI) seem to be predictably successful (Miller & Rollnick, 2002). The use of MI for oral hygiene training, tobacco use cessation or nutrition counseling should therefore be introduced into the dental profession.

Past Symposiums held in the United States of America and one consensus meeting organized in Europe, have elucidated the importance for the dental profession to be involved in tobacco cessation (First National Dental Symposium on Smoking Cessation: Helping Dental Patients to Quit Smoking, April 8,1989, Chicago (McCann, 1989), IADR Symposium on Tobacco Use, Prevention and Cessation, March 9, 2002, San Diego (Greene, 2002) and (EU Working Group on Tobacco and Oral Health Consensus Meeting. Copenhagen, 23-26 October 1997. Abstracts, 1998; Allard, 2000; Johnson & Bain, 2000).

Thus far, no comprehensive model for education and dental practice implementation of tobacco counseling using motivational interviewing has been developed. This workshop is intended to move further in this direction by implementing models of behavior change using motivational interviewing techniques into both the initial and continuing education of oral health professionals.

Workshop goals

• Review the present paradigms and current concepts of tobacco cessation in dental offices.
   

• Introduce motivational interviewing into the dental profession.
   

• Update recent recommendations for both the education of tobacco cessation supported by nicotine substitutes and the organization of dental practice settings.
   

• Discuss research questions and appropriate study designs that will generate comparable results in education, stop smoking rates and improvement in oral health.
   

• Review public health approaches in tobacco control and identify the potential role of the dental profession in these activities.
   

• Communicate outcomes of the workshop elaborations with dental, dental hygienist’s schools and oral health care companies.
   

• Establish a network for quality control.

Working groups

30 workshop participants will be invited and enrolled into 5 working groups. Each group is lead by a chairperson, assisted by a secretary and completed with 4 working group participants. 5 Workshop consultants will also be invited. Their role will be to support the discussions in each working group with their advanced expertise in the field.

Prior to the workshop, all workshop participants will provided with educational material regarding Motivational Interviewing (MI) techniques for behavior change counseling. Dr. Steven Ondersma, a specialist for MI from Detroit, Michigan, USA, will be sending out a comprehensive pre-workshop program on MI in packages to all the workshop participants on a monthly follow-up base, starting July 15, 2005, continued on August 15 and September 15 respectively.

Simultaneously, a specific task will be given to all working group members, such as reviewing the scientific literature or developing responses related to the topics of each working group.

The working titles for each working group are:

• Undergraduate education
   

• Continuing education
   

• Evaluation of education
   

• Evaluation of tobacco use cessation counseling in the dental office
   

• Public health issues

Patronage and collaborative sponsors of the 1st European Workshop on Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation for Oral Health Professionals

With the patronage of the Swiss National Stop Smoking Campaign "Smoking is harmful - Let it be" and its project “Tobacco - Interventions in Dental Practices” and the collaborative sponsorship from Oral-B Laboratories,  Pfizer Inc., and Quintessenz Publishing, we are able to bring the 1st European Workshop on Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation for Oral Health Professionals to life.

Swiss National Stop Smoking Campaign "Let it be"	Oral-B Laboratories	Pfizer Inc.	Quintessenz Publishing