Do your pediatric patients drink alcohol? Are they heavy or binge drinkers?

The results from an extended series of national and local studies on alcohol use and abuse by youngsters is reviewed. One in four eighth graders report binging on alcohol. Six million twelve to seventeen-year-olds indicate they are heavy alcohol drinkers. Dentists caring for youngsters need to be aware that their patients may be drinking alcohol, may have been drunk the previous night and may still be "hung over."