Scientific evidence from the latest Report of the U.S. Surgeon General (2004) and recent biomedical research indicate that tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death. Objectives: The purposes of this survey were to verify the extent of tobacco smoking among practicing dentists and ascertain the need of the tobacco cessation program in the Republic of Korea. Methods: Questionnaires with 10 to 15 questions were distributed to a total of 2,591 dental practitioners who were randomly selected from the member registries of two dental societies: 1,696 out of 3,553 dentists of the Seoul City Dental Society (SCDS) and 895 out of 2,160 dentists of the Gyoung-Gyie Province Dental Society (GGPDS) were the participants of the survey. The surveys were performed in June of 2003 for the SCDS and September of 2003 for the GGPDS. The returned survey questionnaires were statistically analyzed by SAS 8.1 package. Results: The return rates of the surveys are 99.94% and 97.54% from the SCDS and the GGPDS, respectively. The percent of non-smokers, ex-smokers and active smokers of the SCDC-members are 51.7%, 24.7% and 23.6% and that of the GGPDS-members are 48.6%, 27.4% and 24.1%, respectively. There is no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) between the active smokers from the SCDS (23.6%) and that of the GGPDS (24.1%). However, almost half (49.9%) of the survey participants are ex- and active smokers, indicating the possibility of perpetual epidemic could be alarming. Besides, the active smokers consume an average of 11 to 20 cigarettes daily per person. Conclusions: Considering the pivotal role of today's dentists as primary health care providers, it is urgent to educate future dentists from the classroom to prevent unwanted health consequences and economic burden with loss of work, as a nation. (Funded by the Korean Dental Association)

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