Tuesday, June 02, 2015
Grey Bruce Health Unit
Dental Offices Promoting Tobacco Prevention Message!
Four local dental offices are helping to pass on tobacco prevention messages to youth this summer. The Youth Tobacco Prevention Dental Project will see dental professionals discuss tobacco use with patients aged 14 to 18 years. The youth will be shown a specially developed infographic detailing reasons to be tobacco-free as well as the negative effects of using tobacco. As a take-home, a magnet with an Instagram account 91 Reasons, which reflects that 91% of Ontario youth don’t smoke, will be provided at the end of the appointment. Patients who do smoke will be offered a youth cessation booklet with information on quitting.
“Dental professionals are in a unique position as they have frequent contact with youth over a long period of time,” says Public Health Nurse, Beth Karrow. “Face-to-face interaction is an opportunity to remind youth of the benefits of remaining tobacco-free for their oral health and their overall health. The hope is that this strategy will reduce the risk of youth starting to smoke.”
Georgian Family Dentistry (Owen Sound), Hanover Family Dental Centre, Wiarton Dental Clinic and McFarlane Health Facility Ltd (Mount Forest) are participating in this project in partnership with the Grey Bruce Health Unit and the Southwest Tobacco Control Area Network. The project is being rolled out in nine southwest area health units: Grey-Bruce, Huron, Perth, Oxford, Lambton, London-Middlesex, Windsor-Essex, Elgin St Thomas, and Chatham-Kent. The Ontario Tobacco Research Unit will evaluate the project in the fall of 2015.
For further information, call Public Health at 519-376-9420 or 1-800-263-3456 or visit our website at www.publichealthgreybruce.on.ca.
Media Contact:
Beth Karrow
Public Health Nurse
Grey Bruce Health Unit
519-376-9420 or 1-800-263-3456 ext 2231
B.Karrow@publichealthgreybruce.on.ca
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