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A pilot study to investigate the dental team's awareness and confidence in advising patients with regards to shisha smoking Anum Noor Fahmida Jahan Bilal Ahmed Deborah White Dental Update 2025 46:7, 654-661.
Authors
AnumNoor
BDS(Birm)
General Dental Practitioner, Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, UK
Water pipe smoking (‘shisha’) is a form of tobacco which has become increasingly popular in the UK, despite its harmful effects. The dental team has a responsibility to be aware of trends in tobacco usage as we become more actively involved in offering smoking cessation advice to patients, an area of prevention highlighted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in their recommendations for oral health promotion in general dental practice. In this study, students and qualified members of the dental team completed a questionnaire to ascertain their level of knowledge about shisha smoking and its effects, as well as their confidence in advising patients. It was established that there is a lack of awareness and confidence amongst the dental team and an update in training is needed.
CPD/Clinical Relevance: Smoking cessation training must be reviewed and appropriately updated to include shisha smoking so that the dental team can be confident in correctly advising patients about the habit.
Article
Smoking cessation advice to patients is an area of prevention highlighted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in their recommendations for oral health promotion in general dental practice.1 Water pipe smoking (also known as ‘shisha’, ‘hookah’ and ‘hubble bubble’) is an aid to smoking tobacco with origins in Arabia and North Africa. The prevalence of shisha smoking is increasing worldwide and is becoming particularly popular amongst young adults in the UK from all backgrounds.2 This growing trend has partly been attributed to the common misconception amongst consumers that toxic compounds are ‘filtered’ in water, thus making it safer than conventional smoking.3
The water pipe device (Figure 1) works by heating the tobacco by burning coal, wood or charcoal. The resultant smoke then passes through a bowl of water and into the rubber hose for inhalation through a mouthpiece.2,4 Despite the misconception that the water filtering is protective, shisha smoking is thought to be more damaging than smoking cigarettes.
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