Kick the Habit

Last year, Knight Dental Group worked with its health insurance carrier to offer a free six-week smoking cessation program in which participants received nicotine replacement therapy patches. Each week, a motivational counselor met with the group to offer support and advice. Of the 10 employees who participated, eight kicked the habit. “For those eight people, the program was life-changing,” says Barbara Warner Wojdan, CDT, AAACD, President of the Oldsmar, FL laboratory.

A few years ago, Thayer Dental Laboratory went a step further and opted to make the laboratory and its surroundings a smoke-free campus. “We were concerned for the health of our employees and also for the image of the company since patients entering and leaving the dental office next door could see technicians smoking outside,” says Rob Gitman, Company Administrator of the Mechanicsburg, PA lab. The lab gave employees a one-year notice and offered...