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Smoking and oral health
Richard Watt
Powerpoint
Presentation
Abstract
Tobacco use adversely affects oral health in a number
of ways. Research indicates that although dentists are
aware of the oral pathology associated with tobacco use,
their involvement in smoking cessation activities is limited.
Dentists do however have contact with a significant proportion
of the child and adult population and therefore could
play an important role in smoking cessation. This presentation
aims to present an overview of smoking cessation and its
relevance to dentistry. The introduction of new dental
contract in 2006 will provide an opportunity for expanding
dentist's role in preventive activities. This presentation
will outline how dentists and their team members can become
actively engaged in smoking cessation. Details will also
be presented of supporting resources and training materials
that have been published to develop dental professionals
role in smoking cessation. Finally different models of
working with dental professionals will be reviewed to
assess best practice models for effective referral of
smokers to NHS Stop Smoking Services.
Richard Watt
Reader in Dental Public Health,
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health,
University College London
r.watt@ucl.ac.uk
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