Background. Australian dentists' continuing educational needs and their att
itudes towards and self-reported practices related to smoking cessation cou
nseling were examined. Method. Self-administered questionnaires were receiv
ed from 149 dentists (83% response rate). Results. Many dentists were aware
that smoking is a risk factor for the development of oral cancer (n = 128,
86%). Most considered smoking cessation counseling to be part of their pro
fessional role (n = 105, 70%). However, few "always" asked about the smokin
g status of their patients (n. = 21, 14%). The dentists' use of specific be
havioral techniques known to assist patients to quit also was low. Furtherm
ore, the dentists were as likely to use ineffective (advice to "cut down")
as effective (advice to "quit") (p > 0.05) strategies. The respondents were
significantly more interested in self-help pamphlets for their patients th
an in either evidence-based guidelines (McNemar's chi (2) = 9.76, df = 1, p
< 0.01) or a self-study module about smoking cessation (McNemar's <chi>(2)
= 42.0, df = 1, p < 0.001). Conclusions. Continuing education for dentists
that combines skills training, patient materials, and epidemiology is like
ly to be acceptable and effective.