Press Release - Smoking and Oral Cancer!
September 11th, 2007 by teethOntario Dentists Say Quit Smoking and Reduce the Risk of Oral Cancer
Toronto, January 21, 2004 … Quit smoking and reduce the risk of oral cancer, says the Ontario Dental Association (ODA) during National Non Smoking Week, January 18 - 24, 2004.
Smoking, particularly if combined with heavy alcohol consumption, is among the leading risk factors for oral cancer, an aggressive disease that accounts for approximately 2.3 per cent of all new cancer cases in Canada each year.
“Oral cancer is a disfiguring and too-often fatal disease,” said Dr. Blake Clemes, President, ODA. “Avoiding high risk activities, such as smoking, will help reduce the risk of oral cancer occurring.”
Last year, there were more than 3,000 new cases of oral cancer diagnosed in Canada. It has a greater mortality rate than both breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Research indicates that oral health and overall health are closely related in several areas. That means dentists are more important than ever in the promotion of health and the prevention of disease.
The dentist has the medical knowledge to evaluate the patients’ health care needs, diagnose oral health-related problems and prescribe the proper treatment options or refer the patient for appropriate treatment.
Unlike some other health care providers, dentists see, and can point out to their patients some of the early effects of smoking, such as stained teeth, halitosis (bad breath), and periodontal (gum) damage and can emphasize to them that many of these may be reversed on quitting.
While public awareness is high on the association between tobacco and lung cancer or heart disease, it is quite a bit lower on known relationships with oral diseases, such as gum disease and cancers of mouth, tongue and throat. The ODA believes that dentists have an important health promotion and public education role to play in raising the general public’s awareness on this subject.
Individual dentists across Ontario can access ODA-supported programs specifically designed to help their patients quit smoking.
The ODA supports Ontario’s new Liberal government’s initiatives in the area of tobacco control: a significant and ongoing rise in tobacco taxes; and plans to make all public and work places in Ontario smoke free within three years.
The Ontario Dental Association has long been an advocate for smoking cessation.
In 1987, the ODA established a strict work-place non-smoking policy while advocating for a total ban on tobacco product advertising, smoke free public and work places and government initiatives for Ontario tobacco farmers to switch to other crops. This has been followed by more recent policies highlighting the risks of second hand smoke.
The Ontario Dental Association (ODA) and its 6,300 members are committed to providing exemplary oral health care. The ODA is a voluntary professional association representing more than 80 per cent of Ontario dentists. As Ontario’s primary source of information on the dental profession, the ODA’s has been enhancing public awareness of the importance of oral health since 1867. Its mandate is to work with health care professionals, governments and the private sector to attain the highest possible quality standards of health care for Ontarians.
Source: Ontario Dental Association
