LETTERS: SMOKELESS TOBACCO NOT A GOOD SUBSTITUTE, DENTIST WARNS

To the editor:

Recent headlines across the nation read like this: "Smokers Addicted to Nicotine Advised to Switch to Snuff." The author of the article in the American Journal of Medical Sciences argues that while cigarette smoking is linked to a host of hazards from heart disease to lung cancer, smokeless tobacco is associated only with an increased risk of oral cancers.

Suggesting this switch is like telling someone to use a rifle instead of an Uzi.

As an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, I am all too familiar with the ravages of smokeless tobacco. Its devastation is not restricted to the spot in the mouth where smokeless users place the pouch. According to the American Cancer Society, "the use of chewing tobacco or snuff increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, larynx, throat and esophagus and is a highly addictive habit."

Some other disheartening information regarding smokeless: while cigarette smoking has declined for the seventh year in a row, consumption of snuff has risen for the fourth consecutive year. And, who's using it? More than 22 million persons, age 12 and older have used some form of smokeless. Usage among high school students is as high as 34 percent -- 19 percent use some form daily.

Even more shocking, a recent government survey found that smokeless users pick up the habit at the average age of 9 1/2 years old, and more than 25 percent of the users start dipping snuff by age five.

So, do we want to suggest that smokeless is a "better alternative?"

The answer is a resounding no! No, we don't want an increase in the more than 29,000 cases of oral cancer that doctors diagnose each year. No, we don't want to increase the number of persons who die as a result of oral cancer from 8,000 each year to an even larger number.

And, for those who are among the millions of current smokeless users, I advise you to perform a self-examination at least once a month and see a dentist or oral and maxillofacial surgeon for a yearly exam. To learn more about how to perform a self-exam, a free brochure is available by sending for "A Look That Can Save a Life" to AAOMS, 9700 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., Rosemont, Ill. 60018.

ROBERT L. WARD, D.D.S.

Cape Girardeau