Table 3 Pediatric Dentists' Adolescent Tobacco Use Knowledge and Attitudes

• One in three US adolescents uses tobacco by age 18^†

• 90% of first-time cigarette use occurs before high school graduation^‡

• Every day, more than 1000 US adolescents become regular smokers^†

• In the last 25 years the number of US adolescents using smokeless Tobacco has tripled ^‡

Attitude Items

• The pediatric dentist should set a good example by not using tobacco. (N = 859)

• It is important for a pediatric dentist to encourage adolescent non-users to remain tobacco free. (N = 859)

• It is important for a pediatric dentist to ask adolescent patients about tobacco use. (N = 857)

• Most adolescents will not give up tobacco use even if their pediatric dentist tells them to. (N = 854)

• It is a pediatric dentist's responsibility to help patients who wish to stop using tobacco to accomplish this. (N = 861)

• It is a pediatric dentist's responsibility to convince patients who use tobacco to stop. (N = 860)

• Most adolescent tobacco users have a hard time quitting because they are addicted to nicotine. (N = 856)

• Pediatric dentists should be more active than they have been in speaking before lay groups about tobacco use. (N = 857)

• Most adolescent tobacco users can stop if they want to. (N = 851)

• A pediatric dentist's time can be much better spent doing things other than trying to reduce tobacco use in adolescent patients. (N = 851)

• Adolescents have enough problems without adding to them by trying to give up tobacco. (N = 859)