The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and patterns of tobacco use among health sciences undergraduate students.A cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 students in four health sciences faculties at a private university in Kota Damansara, Selangor Malaysia.Data was collected through a self-administrated validated questionnaire, adopted and modified from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey.The survey was administered online using a Google Form for the participants to fill. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22. Descriptive statistics was used to express results in percentage. Chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression wasused to test the association of smoking status and demographic variables. p value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results showed that more than 90% of the respondents wereaware of the harmful effects of tobacco and effects of passivesmoking. About one fifth of the participants had usedtobacco(19%)in our study.Out of the tobacco users, 95% had used tobacco in more than one form.The most important reasonsfor smoking werepeer pressure(36%) and stress (35%).No significant differenceswere found between age, faculty, year of study,or nationality,with the use of tobacco.Multivariable logistic regression analysis showedsignificant gender differences in smoking with more smokers among males than females.In conclusion,about one fifth of the health science undergraduate students had used tobacco products in our study reflecting a seemingly inappropriate portrait as compared to their future careersas health professionals. Therefore, there is an urgent need for reinforcement of education and assistance on quitting tobacco usage among the undergraduates of health science faculties.

The introduction of the recent 2017 classification of periodontal diseases has been welcomed by the periodontal fraternity. The new classification has used available evidence as the backbone for its development. It has been felt by many experts that a good understanding is required for its practice. Towards this, a Malaysian PerioSymposium was organised in May 2019 to comprehend the classification and also to identify the right path towards its learning among undergraduate students of dentistry in Malaysia. The symposium was conducted and moderated by local and international experts. Apart from the few limitations identified, the new classification was recommended to be taught in the undergraduate dental programme across schools in Malaysia.