Ken Tilashalski

Tobacco use and cancer: A reappraisal

With approximately six million users, smokeless tobacco has received considerable scrutiny as a risk factor for oral cancer. We review the relationship between smokeless tobacco use, keratosis, and oral cancer. Several features of smokeless tobacco keratosis, including the natural history, clinical presentation, and biologic behavior, differentiate it from other leukoplakias that exhibit greater malignant potential. Previous research has demonstrated that the relative risk of oral cancer with smokeless tobacco use is 4.2, about half of the risk from smoking (relative risk = 10 to 15). Mortality data from populations with sustained high-frequency smokeless tobacco use do not support the mistaken prediction of an epidemic of oral cancer with increasing smokeless tobacco use. In fact, the risks of smokeless tobacco use compare so favorably with those of smoking that smokers who switch to smokeless tobacco reduce their risks for all tobacco-related illnesses including oral cancer. Although some criticize this proposal as less than an ideal solution for the nations smokers, full adoption of this strategy would eventually save over 400,000 lives each year.

Seven Year Follow-up of Smoking Cessation with Smokeless Tobacco

Abstract This study evaluated the tobacco use status of 63 subjects seven years after enrollment in a single-intervention smoking cessation study employing smokeless tobacco (SLT) as a nicotine substitute. Information about tobacco use and cessation attempts was obtained in interviews. The duration of follow-up and of smoke-free periods were derived from the date of the subjects enrollment and were expressed as person-years (p-y). Because the study focused on the use of SLT for smoking cessation, subjects who used SLT to quit were invited to return for verification (less than 10 parts per million of carbon monoxide in expired air). Follow-up was completed on 62 of 63 original subjects, classified according to tobacco use status at the end of the initial study. Of the 16 subjects who had quit smoking using SLT at one year, 12 were smoke-free at seven years. For all 16 subjects there was 106 p-y of follow-up, 97 (92%) of which were smoke-free. Of six subjects who had quit smoking at one year by a means other than SLT, four were smoke-free at seven years. This entire group had 42 p-y of follow-up, 34 (81%) of which were smoke-free. Of the 41 subjects who were smoking at one year, 12 had quit smoking by the seven-year mark, three of these subjects by using SLT. Total follow-up for this group was 284 p-y, of which 26 (9%) were smoke-free. Although the study is small, the long-term success rate of this pilot trial compares favorably with other cessation studies.

Comparison of Endodontist Versus Generalist Regarding Preference for Postendodontic Use of Cotton Pellets in Pulp Chamber

A degree of uncertainty exists about the use of cotton pellets in the pulp chamber after canal obturation. The purpose of this study was to poll practicing endodontists and generalists regarding their preference. Forty-six endodontists and an equal number of general dentists were polled in a mail survey regarding their preferences for the use of a cotton pellet in the pulp chamber after canal obturation. Eighty-seven percent of the endodontists and 54% of the generalists responded. Of the endodontists, 62.5% said they thought that the general dentist wanted a cotton pellet, contrasted to 80% of the generalists. The difference in proportions was not statistically significant.