ABSTRACT
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 150dental patients of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. Stratified random sampling technique was utilized. Data was collected with the aid of pretested self-administered questionnaires consisting of open and closed - ended questions.
RESULTS: The overall prevalence of tobacco use among respondents in this study was found tobe 12.0% and the knowledge of the possible adverse effects of tobacco use among majority, 72 (56.7%) of respondents was good. A vast majority, 134 (89.3%) of the respondents had positive attitude towards tobacco cessation services although many, 107 (71.3%) were not aware of these services. The knowledge of these services was also discovered to be poor among most, 27 (62.8%) respondents who were aware of these services.
CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the prevalence of tobacco use among respondents waslow, the knowledge of the adverse effects of its use was adequate and most respondents had positive attitude towards tobacco cessation services. However, their knowledge of the cessation services was poor. There is the need to increase the public knowledge of tobacco cessation services, the media and doctors can play great roles in the actualization of this.
KEY WORDS: Tobacco use, dental patients, knowledge, cessation service
