Consumption of tobacco derived products and oral health perception among university students

Abstract

New habits of consuming tobacco-derived substances, such as hookahs and electronic cigarettes, have been observed among young people and oral cancer rates have been increasing in this population. Health professionals, including dentists, play a very important role in raising awareness of the harm caused by this habit, as well as in reducing this consumption. Therefore, this work aimed to investigate the prevalence of the use of tobacco-derived substances, including new habits, such as electronic cigarettes, among university students of a university located at east of São Paulo. For this purpose, anonymous forms were applied to verify the type of consumption of tobacco, the frequency, as well as individual perception and knowledge about oral lesions. Of the 130 forms completed, 43,1% were from Dentistry students. The results showed an incidence of 37,7% of student smokers, with the majority of these using electronic cigarettes (25,4%). The majority are female (69,2%) and aged between 18 and 21 years old (59,2%). Only 8,5% report smoking on university premises. In relation to oral injuries, 10,8% said they had already had some oral injury. Given these results, this survey concluded that there is a significant number of young university students who use substances derived from tobacco, with the majority using electronic cigarettes. Preventative activities at the University Center inhibited the use on university premises. Many use more than one substance derived from tobacco simultaneously, and the results observed are in line with previous research, suggesting that there may be a carcinogenic effect of electronic cigarettes.