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San Antonio—Are the smoking prevention and cessation educational materials you use in your dental office produced by a trusted source with expertise in tobacco control?

In passing Resolution 41H, the ADA House of Delegates urges dentists and health organizations to provide information to patients and consumers "developed by credible and trustworthy sources with expertise in tobacco control."

"Tobacco use is a leading preventable cause of oral disease, and dentists have a professional responsibility to educate their patients about tobacco and to help them quit, said Dr. Scott L. Tomar, professor and chair, Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Science, University of Florida College of Dentistry. "However, it is essential that the patient educational materials distributed by dentists come from credible, respected health authorities, and not from tobacco companies that continue to aggressively promote their products."

The resolution states that the ADA urge dentists and health organizations to avoid providing patients and consumers information or materials developed by tobacco companies or other groups aligned with the tobacco industry and that the ADA not accept advertisements from tobacco companies or groups aligned with the tobacco industry concerning tobacco use prevention or cessation in any of its official publications, including The Journal of the American Dental Association and ADA News.

"Posters, brochures and advertisements produced by tobacco manufacturers may create the impression that these companies are acting socially responsible," added Dr. Tomar, an ADA advisor on tobacco use prevention and cessation. "The ADA is to be congratulated for joining the large and growing list of health organizations that have established such policies."

For more information on ADA tobacco position statements, past articles in JADA or ADA News or links to tobacco prevention and cessation education materials, log on to www.ada.org/goto/quitsmoking.