Help your patients quit tobacco use

Tobacco use, in its various forms such as smoking, smokeless tobacco, cigars, pipes, water pipes, and electronic cigarettes, is a major cause of preventable illness and death. It can lead to oral health issues, including gingival recession, poor healing, oral cancer, mucosal lesions, periodontal disease, and tooth staining.

For treating tobacco use and dependence, the most effective clinical strategies involve counseling, medication, or a combination of both. Dental practices are ideally positioned to identify patients who use tobacco, provide quitting information, encourage cessation, assess readiness to quit, assist with counseling and pharmacotherapy, and arrange follow‑ups.

Cognitive behavioral therapy, along with other non‑pharmacological approaches like hypnosis and acupuncture, has been shown to boost cessation success rates. Pharmacological treatments such as nicotine replacement therapy and medications like bupropion, varenicline, and inhalers are also effective.

To initiate a tobacco cessation program, dental offices should include questions about tobacco use in their medical/dental history forms to identify users and evaluate their willingness to quit. Members of our medical plans have access to the Quitting Tobacco Roadmap Program, available in the Sydney app.

For California members who identify their tobacco use, it is important that your office perform Tobacco Counseling (D1320) to encourage healthier lifestyle to prevent illness.

Additional resources are available through the American Dental Association and the CDC websites.