Archive | 2019
Cigarro eletrônico: conhecimento e hábito de uso entre pacientes odontológicos
Abstract
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are increasingly popular in many countries and became a public health concern. In some places, such as, in Brazil, electronic smoking devices were banned from the market. Even though e-cigarettes are illegal in Brazil, it is important to emphasize the need to educate dental professionals regarding the potential hazards of vaping on the oral and systemic health. This study questioned Canadian dental patients about e-cigarettes, aiming to share information with dental professionals around the world regarding this contemporary issue. One hundred sixty-three (163) adult dental patients who attended a Canadian university dental clinic in the period February-May 2018 answered a closed-ended questionnaire to investigate their knowledge about e-cigarettes and their usage habits. Data was descriptively reported (frequencies and percentages). Only 7 (4.29%) patients (≥ 18 years old) had never heard about e-cigarettes. Overall, patients believed that conventional cigarettes are more harmful to the general (88.95%), and oral health (91.41%), in comparison to the negative effects caused by e-cigarettes to the general (69.93%), and oral health (69.32%).\xa0 Prosthodontic crowns and implants were cited as structures that might not be affected by e-cigarettes. Twenty-one (12.88%) patients had already tried an e-cigarette (half of those were non-smokers). The reasons to try e-cigarettes were: ‘they help to quit smoking and they are a safer alternative to smoking’. The harmfulness of e-cigarettes compared to conventional cigarettes was pointed as: i) both types are equally harmful > ii) e-cigarettes are harmful, but not as bad as conventional cigarettes > iii) e-cigarettes are more harmful. Patients were aware of the negative effects of e-cigarettes, but to a lesser degree when comparing their knowledge to conventional cigarettes. A few participants have already tried an e-cigarette and almost half of those were non-smokers.