Attitude and Practices of Iranian Dentists and Dental Students Regarding Tobacco Cessation

Tobacco use has serious harmful effects on nearly every system in the body and by 2030-accounting for approximately 8 million deaths per year-it is expected to be the single biggest cause of death worldwide (World Health Organization, 2009) and especially in developing countries (Philip et al., 2013). In Iran, there are an estimated 10 million smokers and the death rate for smoking is now estimated at about 60000 people a year (Ministry of Health and Medical Education, 2005; Kelishadi et al., 2006). Prevalence of daily cigarette smoking among Iranians aged 15-64 years is estimated 12.5 percent (23% in males and 1.4 %in females) (Ziaddini et al., 2006). Carcinoma of oral cavity in developing countries is the sixth commonest cancer in males and the tenth commonest site of cancer in female accounting for approximately 4% of all cases of cancers world-wide (Razavi et al., 2012). The majority of cases are well advanced before diagnosis