Journal of the American Dental Association, Vol 120, Issue Suppl, 20S-27S
Copyright © 1990 by American Dental Association
How-to-do-it quit-smoking strategies for the dental office team: an eight-step program
AG Christen,
JA Klein,
JA Christen,
JL McDonald Jr,
and
CJ Guba
Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, Indiana University School of Dentistry, Indianapolis.
Dental personnel have an ethical responsibility to inform their patients about the hazards of tobacco use. Because oral health team members generally see their patients on a frequent and recurring basis, these treatment providers have unparalleled opportunities to educate and help those who smoke to adopt a smokefree lifestyle. Dental practitioners can readily incorporate smoking cessation efforts into their routine dental practices by using an eight-phase smoking intervention program. The overall focus of this program is to: "Ask" patients about smoking or smokeless tobacco usage; "Advise" tobacco-using patients to quit; "Assist" interested patients in quitting; and "Arrange" for supportive follow-up. By providing these services, dental professionals can do their part to help create a smokefree America by the year 2000.