Knowledge, attitude and practice of smoking cessation counseling among dental hygienists in Saudi Arabia.

Introduction: Tobacco has major effects on the oral health of an individual. Dental hygienists play an important role in smoking control by educating and motivating patients and community. The aim of this study is to add more evidence on knowledge, attitude, and practice of smoking cessation counseling among dental hygienists in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: The study is a cross-sectional study, subjects are dental hygienist practitioners in Saudi Arabia employed in either public or private hospitals in 2021. The data collection tool of this study was a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire of 36 questions. The final sample included 80 employed participants.

Results: Knowledge differed significantly amongst participants according to their educational level, with the highest mean knowledge scores among PhD versus Bachelor's degree holders [mean (SD) = 27.7 (29.3) vs 21.9 (10.8), p=0.038, respectively]. On the other hand, dental hygienists attitude percentage scores differ statistically by working place; dental hygienists working in public health organization had a score [mean = 74 (8.9)] was higher compared to those in private health organizations [mean = 69.3 (10.8)]. Also, participants attitude percentage mean scores differ statistically by years of experience; the higher the years of experience the higher the dental hygienists' adaptation of an attitude toward smoking cessation counselling. In terms of dental hygienists practice percentage mean scores, the only statistically significant difference was educational level [Bachelor's: 64 (17.7); Master's: 103.3 (17.2); PhD: 108.8 (15.3); p=0.003].

Conclusions: Dental hygiene practitioners' level of knowledge is unsatisfactory. Workshops and program training are indeed necessary to increase dental hygiene knowledge leading to effective implementation of smoking cessation counselling.