[The role of health professionals in discouraging tobacco use].

In Central and Eastern Europe the morbidity and mortality rates as a result of tobacco use are high. Based on the premise that the health professional can play an important role in dealing with this epidemic of tobacco use, a series of workshops was organized in 2000 and 2001 for dentists and physicians. This article contains a summary of the proceedings of the workshop 'The role of the health professional and health school curriculum in tobacco control', that have been earlier published in the European Journal of Dental Education. The role of the Dutch dentist in assisting their patients to quit smoking is discussed.