Dentists should be allowed to prescribe nicotine replacement therapy and all members of the dental team should be trained to give smoking cessation advice, a new report has recommended.

Beyond smoking kills: protecting children, reducing inequalities, published in October to mark the tenth anniversary of the Government's white paper on smoking, points out that one in seven 15-year-olds regularly smokes and that one in six mothers smokes through pregnancy.

It calls for the number of the NHS Smoking Helpline to be included on all cigarette packets and for the abolition of prescription charges on nicotine replacement therapy.

The report, funded by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation, is endorsed by the British Dental Association and the British Dental Health Foundation. It calls for smoking cessation to be made part of all health professionals' undergraduate training and ongoing development. ‘All health professionals should have the skills to offer basic stop smoking advice to smokers, including an offer of treatment and referral to specialist services,’ it says.