Tobacco cessation intervention: how to communicate with tobacco using patients.

Tobacco use is a dental as well as a medical problem. When dental team members assist their patients in becoming tobacco free, they are eliminating a causative/contributing factor for a number of oral conditions including cancer and periodontal diseases. Studies have shown that brief tobacco use cessation interventions in the dental office can be effective in helping many patients to stop using tobacco. Interventions can be optimized through understanding the stage of change the tobacco user is in when an intervention is attempted. Only then can we use the appropriate intervention at the right time. This article discusses and demonstrates a protocol for tobacco cessation interventions that can be used in the dental office.