A profile of tobacco use by teenage boys
Guggenheimer, J.; Zullo, T.G.; Verbin, R.S.; Kruper, D.C.
Clinical Preventive Dentistry 9(2): 5-8
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0163-9633 PMID: 3494565 Document Number: 304185
A voluntary, anonymous questionnaire was used to develop a profile of tobacco habits among teenage males. There was a four-fold (26%) greater use of smokeless tobacco compared with smoking tobacco (6%). Smokeless users also began at an earlier age, with peer influence and a perception of harmlessness appearing to be more important than media in determining the smokeless tobacco habit. These data are consistent with findings from other regional studies of similarly-aged populations. Prolonged contact of smokeless tobacco with oral structures has the potential for inducing a variety of pathologic conditions which the dental practitioner is likely to encounter in the near future.