Sir, I would like to add two points to the interesting article by Dr R.A. Baker on smoking cessation for patients with mental and behavioural disorders (BDJ 2005; 198: 529–531). Firstly, I believe that he has incorrectly referenced the recent report from the Health Development Agency – Helping smokers stop: A guide for the dental team. Its authors were Dr R.H. Beaglehole and Dr R.G. Watt, rather than Watt and Robinson (who wrote the previous version published by the Health Education Authority in 1999). Readers who wish to brief themselves on this subject should ensure that they use the up to date 2004 report, as it outlines a 'modified 4 As' approach for the dental team to use, highlighting the importance of appropriate referral of smokers to specialist smoking cessation services. Secondly, the Health Development Agency also published a report in 2004 by Dr A. McNeill, Smoking and patients with mental health problems. This concludes that many smokers with mental health problems want to stop smoking, but do not receive the advice and support they need to do so, and that good evidence exists that smokers with mental health problems can be helped to stop smoking. It also puts forward a number of practical recommendations, relating for example to the close monitoring of quit attempts by smokers on psychotropic medication, to check whether there is any exacerbation of medication side-effects, whether the dose of neuroleptic medication needs to be altered, or if the smoker needs further help with withdrawal symptoms and urges to smoke. Though the Health Development Agency has now been abolished as a separate agency, both reports are available to download as PDFs from www.hda-online.org.uk