Below are two FREE online continuing education (CE) courses from The Proctor & Gamble Company written by American Dental Association (ADA) member Dr. Nevin Zablotsky. Given COVID-19’s impact on the respiratory system, this information is timely.
Tobacco and Nicotine Products: The Times They Are A’Changing (1 CE hr)
The use of tobacco and its byproducts stems back to more than 5,000 B.C. Over time, we’ve found that these products are highly addictive and cause numerous serious health problems to those who use them. Given the devastation that tobacco use has caused, the tobacco industry has been forced since the 1960s and 70s to try to find ways to get the consumers of their products to switch to those that are less harmful. There have been many iterations of tobacco harm reduction over the years, with the latest being e-cigarettes and now heat-not-burn products. This course will help provide the needed knowledge to help understand how we got to the present dilemma we face as a society with these products and where we may be going to undo the damage done.
Tobacco 101: A Guide to Working with Nicotine Addicted Patients (3 CE hrs)
The course is a more thorough review of tobacco and nicotine products and how they impact oral health. There is a review of addiction with an emphasis on nicotine addiction, and a discussion of smoking cessation modalities that are currently available. This course will provide an understanding of how tobacco products impact your patients and educate you on how to confidently guide your tobacco- and nicotine-using patients to quit their addiction and the proper resources available to them.
About Dr. Nevin Zablotsky
Dr. Zablotsky was a periodontist for more than 40 years and treated many patients who were addicted to various tobacco and nicotine products. He saw firsthand the impact of using these addictive products on their oral and overall health. Sadly, some suffered from chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular compromises and strokes, COPD, lung and oral cancer. In 2001, he was part of a program funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to educate dental offices in Vermont on the impact of these products on their patients. This led to his second career as a lecturer on this subject throughout the U.S and internationally, as well as for the ADA. Over the past six years, he’s been consulting and lecturing at Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine.
Beyond the Bite 