Abstract
Dental teams are in an ideal position to help smokers stop smoking. In spite of this, smoking cessation interventions are not often incorporated as a routine part of dental care. Surveys have shown that most dentists believe that helping patients stop smoking is important, but they are reluctant to provide smoking cessation services for their patients. However, comparatively little research has been carried out to examine the views and activities of other members of the dental team, with respect to the provision of smoking cessation support as part of dental care. This paper describes a self-administered, questionnaire-based study to investigate attitudes and practices amongst staff in the Birmingham Personal Dental Service, with respect to helping patients to stop smoking.