Abstract
Smoking is known to be harmful not only for smokers but also for non-smokers. It also represents the most significant enviromental risk factor for oral diseases. Many studies have been conducted about how much smoking is involved in the onsets and developments of mouth diseases and how it lowers the effectiveness of treatments. Smoking-related health problems for infants are immeasurable. With these things in consideration, in 2004, the Japanese Society of Pediatric, and the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Japan Pediatric Society made a declaration for the promotion of a smoke-free society for the benefit of children's health. Furthermore, in 2006 four dentistry-related societies, the Japanese Society for Dental Health, the Japanese Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, the Japanese Association for Dental Science, the Japan Dental Association, and the Japan Dental Hygienists made a declaration of a smoking ban. These declarations state that dentists and dental hygenists, as medical professionals, should consider it part of their mission to prevent smoking-related problems. In this paper, we will report on the effects of smoking on infants in terms of both basic medical sciences and clinical medicine.
