Smokefree Smiles

Help someone quit smoking today

Oral health professionals know that smoking significantly increases the risk of oral cancer and periodontal (gum) disease. What we may not appreciate is that oral health professionals play an important role in helping clients to quit smoking.

Smokefree Smiles empowers oral health professionals to take a client’s lifestyle into consideration when providing care. Oral health professionals can engage clients in meaningful conversations about their health by incorporating the principles of value-based health in a person-centred model of care.

To do this, we:

Identify clients who use tobacco.
Look for opportunities to talk with every client who smokes using the Brief Advice model - Ask, Advise, Help.
Encourage and congratulate all quitting attempts.
Guide clients towards evidence-based solutions to give them the best chance of success. This includes using a combination of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and quitting medications, PLUS tailored support from a quit specialist, such as a Quitline counsellor.
Offer self-help materials and resources.

The training package was developed by oral health professionals and specialists from Quit. It combines the latest evidence-based best practice, with practical tips and advice you can use straight away. The package includes an online training course, chairside guide, posters and Quitline referral information for clients.

DHSV acknowledges Quit Victoria, the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch and the Department of Health and Human Services for their commitment to this partnership program.

To learn more about supporting your clients to quit, start your training today at https://www.quit.org.au/resources/oral-health/training-resources-oral-health-professionals/.

Order free resources from Quit Victoria: https://www.quit.org.au/resources/

For more information, contact Health Promotion Lead, Nidhi Saraswat: Nidhi.Saraswat@dhsv.org.au