ABSTRACT
Objective: Nowadays, one of the major health problems in many countries is tobacco use. Dental
professionals are in a unique position to promote smoking cessation since they have
the opportunity for regular interaction with their patients. The purpose of the present
study was to compare the effectiveness of two educational methods to teach tobacco
cessation counseling (TCC) in dental practice for senior dental students. Materials and Methods: In this interventional study, 93 eligible senior dental students from two dental
schools in Tehran, Iran were randomly divided into two groups. Two educational programs,
role play (RP) and problem-based learning (PBL), with the same aim about TCC in dental practice, were developed and implemented
for the two groups. The score of knowledge, attitude, and skill were determined in
both groups before and after participation in the course using a questionnaire. The
changes in the scores from pre- to post-test were statistically analyzed using repeated
measure ANOVA test. Results: Total scores of knowledge, attitude, and skill of the participants showed improvements
when compared to scores before training (P < 0.001, P = 0.003, and P < 0.001, respectively). However, the differences between the two study methods were
statistically insignificant (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The results suggested that TCC training through RP and PBL methods leads to improvement
in knowledge, attitude, and skills of dental students in the short-term evaluation.
Key words:
Counseling - dental - problem-based learning - role play - teaching - tobacco use
cessation
