Table 3.

Pediatric Dentists' Adolescent Tobacco Use Knowledge and Attitudes

Knowledge Items (N = 872)	Correct*
	%	n
• One in three US adolescents uses tobacco by age 18†	60	527
• 90% of first-time cigarette use occurs before high school graduation‡	40	348
• Every day, more than 1000 US adolescents become regular smokers†	36	311
• In the last 25 years the number of US adolescents using smokeless Tobacco has tripled‡	19	168
Attitude Items	Strongly Agree/Agree
	%	n
• The pediatric dentist should set a good example by not using tobacco. (N = 859)	92	793
• It is important for a pediatric dentist to encourage adolescent non-users to remain tobacco free. (N = 859)	78	667
• It is important for a pediatric dentist to ask adolescent patients about tobacco use. (N = 857)	66	565
• Most adolescents will not give up tobacco use even if their pediatric dentist tells them to. (N = 854)	64	548
• It is a pediatric dentist's responsibility to help patients who wish to stop using tobacco to accomplish this. (N = 861)	56	482
• It is a pediatric dentist's responsibility to convince patients who use tobacco to stop. (N = 860)	55	471
• Most adolescent tobacco users have a hard time quitting because they are addicted to nicotine. (N = 856)	54	465
• Pediatric dentists should be more active than they have been in speaking before lay groups about tobacco use. (N = 857)	43	367
• Most adolescent tobacco users can stop if they want to. (N = 851)	37	316
• A pediatric dentist's time can be much better spent doing things other than trying to reduce tobacco use in adolescent patients. (N = 851)	20	173
• Adolescents have enough problems without adding to them by trying to give up tobacco. (N = 859)	4	36

*Missing/"don't know" responses were counted as incorrect.

^†True/false and ^‡multiple choice questions (4 items).

Bold indicates correct answer for multiple choice questions.