Tobacco In Systemic And Oral Health

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Tobacco products, no matter the kind, cause harm to both systemic and oral health, and can lead to addiction that is hard to combat. Oral health professionals are equipped to educate and counsel patients on all areas of tobacco use. This includes discussing the patient’s daily habits and discouraging all types of tobacco use based on the product’s adverse effects on systemic and oral health. Tobacco causes an immense public health burden and it is crucial that all healthcare clinicians address the issue when a patient presents with it. Whether the addiction is cigarettes, pipes, or different forms of smokeless tobacco, health care providers have a professional responsibility to address the risk of nicotine addiction and provide cessation counseling. Dental hygienists often spend the most time with patients out of all oral health care members so it is imperative for them to be skilled in recognizing the usage tobacco products and their effects on the oral cavity.
Various types of tobacco have a variety of negative outcomes. Extensive research has been done on inhaled tobacco smoking and has been proven to cause damage to many systemic functions of the body as well as lead to periodontal disease. The general public believes that smokeless tobacco is the safer choice but this may not be the correct assumption. Although there is evidence that smoking is associated with oral cancer, smokeless tobacco studies show this form of tobacco to be more strongly associated with oral cancer.1
Smokeless tobacco (ST) is tobacco consumed orally, not smoked, and placed in the oral cavity.2 A wide variety of smokeless tobacco exists but the most commonly manufactured in the United States are loose-leaf chewing tobacco, moist snuff, and dry snu...

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...ients on the risks and offer cessation counseling. Although there are several barriers such as time, lack of proper training to prepare the clinicians, and possibility of insurance companies not paying for counseling, support from dentists and dental hygienists is comparable to that from doctors and psychotherapists.6 Studies have shown that these efforts seem to be justified and serve the public as an effective tobacco cessation.6
In conclusion, tobacco products contribute to both systemic and oral harm. Smokeless tobacco does not need to be promoted as a “safer” choice rather patients need to be educated on the increased risk of oral cancer. Dental hygienists' active involvement in educating the community on the dangers smokeless tobacco, and encouraging cessation is extremely important in decreasing the potential explosion of oral cancer in future generations.

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