Smile SMART effort seeks to encourage
patients to stop smoking, tobacco use
MURFREESBORO,
Tenn. — MTSU’s Center for Health and Human Services has received $30,000
from the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter Community Grants Program to provide
training to area dental providers on best practices for smoking cessation.
Smile SMART is a
patient-centered smoking-cessation training program for dentists, hygienists
and dental assistants, according to a March of Dimes news release. It is an
adaptation of the highly successful and award-winning SMART Moms – Smart
Mothers Are Resisting Tobacco, a program that trains providers who provide
services to pregnant women in smoking cessation best practices.
The Smile SMART project
will be piloted with Rutherford County dental providers and the Hamilton
County Health Department’s dental program, though other providers who
express an interest are welcome to participate.
The goal of Smile SMART
is to empower dental professionals to use the evidence-based five A’s (Ask,
Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) to encourage their patients to quit smoking or
decrease tobacco use, and to reduce women’s and infants’ exposure to secondhand
smoke, ultimately reducing tobacco-related preterm birth, low-birth weight and
other adverse birth outcomes.
“Dental providers have
opportunities to connect with their patients about the impact of smoking on
their oral health as well as the impact of exposure to secondhand smoke of
those around them, including children,” said Cynthia Chafin, interim director
of MTSU’s Center for Health and Human Services and Smile SMART project director.
“We are very excited to expand the initial pilot project to include dental
providers.”
Joining Chafin will be Andrew
Owusu, Ph.D., associate professor in the MTSU Department of Health and Human
Performance Department, who will serve as project evaluator. Maria L.
Geisinger, DDS, assistant professor in the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s
Department of Periodontology, will serve as a project consultant, as will Dr.
Lynne Goebel of the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.
In the research article
titled “Tobacco Cessation Education for Dentists,” results found that “dentists
with tobacco cessation training perform more interventions, report increased
self-efficacy, preparedness and fewer barriers than those without training.”
Dentists with cessation training were “more likely to discuss the personal
relevance of quitting, roadblocks and setting quit dates, identify triggers,
discuss pharmacotherapy and provide follow-up.”
Smile SMART will partner
with the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and the
University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Periodontology to research
changes in provider behavior in Tennessee practitioners who implement the
program. The initial SMART Moms pilot project trained over 400 providers and
reached over 13,000 women with one-on-one smoking cessation counseling. Results
of the project were published in the Journal of Allied Health and indicated
successes that exceeded programs offered in similar settings.
Founded by the Adams
Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services in 1993, the MTSU Center for Health
and Human Services collaborates with public agencies, private not-for-profit
organizations, and MTSU faculty and students to improve the health and
well-being of Tennesseans. Since 2001, CHHS and the Adams Chair have received
over $7 million in grants and contracts.
For more information on
CHHS and the Smile SMART provider training program, or to learn how the center
can help meet your organization’s research, training, or education needs,
contact Chafin at 615-898-5493 or cynthia.chafin@mtsu.edu
or visit the Center’s website at http://www.mtsu.edu/chhs/.
About the March of Dimes
The mission of the March
of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects,
premature birth, and infant mortality. The March of Dimes celebrates those
babies born healthy, honors those who have passed, and fights for solutions for
those born prematurely or with birth defects. To honor and celebrate the babies
and children who have touched your life, consider volunteering your time or
making a donation to March of Dimes. Visit the March of Dimes website to learn
more at www.marchofdimes.org.
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