Dentists have called on the HSE to give them a key role in the State’s tobacco control strategy, similar to the practice in Sweden. The Irish Dentists’ Association (IDA) said its members were “ideally placed” to advise patients on smoking’s risks.
IDA general practitioner committee chairman, Dr Peter Gannon, said smoking was still the “single biggest cause of cancer in Ireland” and one in three adults smoke – as in one million people.
It is “no coincidence” that Swedish dentists are involved in their country’s approach to the problem, he said, speaking at the association’s annual conference in Galway late last week.
“Sweden is the only country in Europe which has reached the World Health Organisation target of reducing the number of adults smoking to one in five,” he said.
And while many people were aware of the dangers of lung cancer , they were not so familiar with other negative effects of smoking on oral health, he said.
Source: Lorna Siggins, Irish Times, 23/04/13
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