Practicing dentist and smokeless tobacco

Abstract

During the past 10 years, it has been noted that a number of children and adolescents are using smokeless tobacco in the form of oral snuff and chewing tobacco. The sale of these products has increased dramatically in the last decade, with more than 15 million people in the United States estimated to use snuff or chewing tobacco. This article describes the distribution of smokeless tobacco use, its health consequences, and how and why the dentist is an appropriate health professional to reduce its use.