Health care providers play an important role in tobacco cessation and abstinence. The Dental Health Care Providers can assist in early diagnosis with the help of basic clinical skills and academic knowledge along with indispensable care, necessary surgical and behavioral support, make referrals and generate awareness.
Dentists are in unique position to relate the oral findings to the patients and to provide advice to tobacco using patients to quit. In addition they are able to assess patients self addiction and level of readiness to quit. With this information dentist can assist in helping patients to stop using tobacco by providing appropriate pharma-therapeutic aid, counseling and this may help to improve their overall health.
Keeping this in mind, Surendera Dental College & Research Institute has been actively working towards Tobacco Cessation through various activities like Dental Camps for free oral health check up, counseling, workshops and audio-visual aids. The Department of Public Heath Dentistry & Oral Medicine & Radiology offer training, research and community health services through its various outdoor activities in form of dental camps, community based comprehensive medical care, mobile and satellite clinics apart from its regular indoor treatment facilities. Oral Health Information center is also established in the department for educating the common people regarding oral health & awaring them about ill effects of tobacco.
Taking one step further in this Surendera Dental College & Research Institute through its Department of Oral Medicine & Radiology & Public Health Dentistry had set up Tobacco Cessation Cell. The centre has all the facilities for counseling of the patients. A detailed evaluation of tobacco users is done indicating them by Modified Fagerstorm-Nicotine Dependence scale, counseling and motivating to quit habit. There is full time Medical social Worker dedicated only for the counseling session of the patients. In order to motivate the patients and to find out the compliance of the patients the centre has Carbon Monoxide Smokelyser an effective tool which measures the Carbon Monoxide level in the patient’s breath. The centre provides Nicotine Replacement Therapy at nominal cost to the patients. Regular Follow up is done on weekly and fortnightly basis of the patients to check for their compliance and to provide them with moral support and help in quitting the habit of smoking and chewing tobacco. Since its inception around 150 patients have been screened in Tobacco cessation Centre and around 10-12% of the patients have quit the habit of smoking and chewing tobacco with the help of our centre. We aim to remove this deadly habit of tobacco chewing and smoking from the society which is one of the preventable causes of mortality among people of Sri Ganganagar.
For Counselling/Help please contact us at : Dr. Basavraj – 9343121797, Dr. Nishant – 9939901202
