prevention and cessation C D A J O U R N A L , V O L 4 9 , Nº 8
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The Pediatric Dentist’s Role in the Prevention and Cessation of Tobacco Use Among Children and Adolescents Jean Marie Calvo, DDS, MPH; Rebecca Renelus, DDS; and Michelle Tsao, DMD
abstract Most tobacco users began using tobacco products by age 18. Pediatric dentists play a vital role in providing care and advocating for the health of all children and adolescents. Helping to ensure all youth achieve their optimal health includes the critical role of pediatric dentists to prevent initiation of tobacco use among their patients. With myriad risk factors for tobacco use, pediatric dental providers are likely to encounter many youth tobacco users. The multitude of harms from tobacco use have severe lifetime consequences for users. Pediatric dentists should support the prevention and cessation of tobacco product use by youth.
AUTHORS Jean Marie Calvo, DDS, MPH, is a health sciences assistant clinical professor in the division of pediatric dentistry, department of orofacial sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry. Conflict of Interest Disclosure: None reported. Rebecca Renelus, DDS, is a first-year pediatric dental resident at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry. Conflict of Interest Disclosure: None reported.
Michelle Tsao, DMD, is a first-year pediatric dental resident at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry. Conflict of Interest Disclosure: None reported.
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obacco use in children and adolescents remains an epidemic in the U.S. Today, more than 600,000 middle school students and 3 million high school students in the U.S. smoke cigarettes.1 And every day, more than 1,200 people in the U.S. die from smoking and smoking-related complications.1 Furthermore, this epidemic is not limited to smoking. In 2020, nearly 7% of middle school students and 25% of high school students reported currently using a tobacco product.2 Despite the direct link between tobacco use and poor health outcomes, established more than half a century ago, the initiation and use of tobacco products
among youth remains startlingly consistent.3 In response, all health care providers, especially pediatric dentists and others who work with youth, must make every effort to prevent the initiation and promote the cessation of tobacco use among their patients. According to the U.S. surgeon general, nearly 9 in 10 individuals who use or have used tobacco products began using by age 18, and their progression from occasional to daily smoking occurs by age 26.1 Among teen tobacco users, 75% smoke into adulthood, even if they intend to quit after a few years.1 Although smoking among youth has declined over the past few decades as a result of successful public health AUGUST 2 0 2 1
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