The need to educate future dental professionals on E-cigarette effects

Abstract

To compare knowledge and attitude of dental students in two countries towards E-cigarettes and their long-term effects.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

An anonymous cross-sectional survey, using self-administered questionnaires, was conducted amongst dental students from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry (UCLA) and Universidad Europea of Madrid (UE).

RESULTS:

There were significant differences in knowledge and perception of E-cigarettes between dental students from both countries. Three (3%) of the participants from UE sample smoked E-cigarettes every day, compared to none of the students from UCLA. Almost 54 (80%) students from UCLA claimed that they had never experimented with an E-cigarette, whereas 61 (65%) of UE sample reported not having experimented with E-cigarettes in the past. More than 15% of students in both populations were unsure of the potentially harmful effects of E-cigarette usage. A significantly higher proportion of the Spanish sample used conventional cigarettes compared to the US sample 53 (56%) compared to 36 (24%), P < 0.001). In addition, when compared to the UE sample, UCLA students rated E-cigarettes as being less harmful overall than tobacco P < 0.001. Furthermore, more than 86% of both populations indicated interest in learning more about the potential risks associated with E-cigarettes.

CONCLUSIONS:

This survey indicated that students from one dental school in the United States of America (USA) and one in Spain lacked the knowledge to address the rising E-cigarette population usage and provide information regarding them to patients. Specific educational programmes on E-cigarette hazards and long-term effects on oral and systemic health should be implemented in dental curricula in both of these schools in order to stay receptive to the changing field of tobacco education.