This study documented the perception among student health professionals of the relative health risks from cigarette smoking and from smokeless tobacco (SLT) use. Subjects consisted of dental students, internal medicine residents, and public health graduate students at UAB and dental students at UNMC. The subjects completed a questionnaire indicating their view of the relationship between cigarette smoking or SLT use and “general health,” “cancer,” and “oral cancer.” Response was on a 10-point scale ranging from zero (“not at all harmful”) to 10 (“deadly”). A comparison of responses was made between groups for each health category. Individual responses were categorized to indicate whether one product was perceived to be more harmful than (or equal to) the other. SLT use was perceived by 30% of respondents to be either equal to or more harmful than smoking in relation to general health. The corresponding results for cancer and oral cancer were 38% and 72%. However, when focusing on the responses of the third and fourth year dental students, these numbers dropped to 8%, 9%, and 35%, respectively. Students in the health professions overestimate health risks from SLT use. However, the dental school curriculum at these schools, including the core oral pathology courses, results in a more accurate perception of the lower risks from SLT than from smoking. This study documented the perception among student health professionals of the relative health risks from cigarette smoking and from smokeless tobacco (SLT) use. Subjects consisted of dental students, internal medicine residents, and public health graduate students at UAB and dental students at UNMC. The subjects completed a questionnaire indicating their view of the relationship between cigarette smoking or SLT use and “general health,” “cancer,” and “oral cancer.” Response was on a 10-point scale ranging from zero (“not at all harmful”) to 10 (“deadly”). A comparison of responses was made between groups for each health category. Individual responses were categorized to indicate whether one product was perceived to be more harmful than (or equal to) the other. SLT use was perceived by 30% of respondents to be either equal to or more harmful than smoking in relation to general health. The corresponding results for cancer and oral cancer were 38% and 72%. However, when focusing on the responses of the third and fourth year dental students, these numbers dropped to 8%, 9%, and 35%, respectively. Students in the health professions overestimate health risks from SLT use. However, the dental school curriculum at these schools, including the core oral pathology courses, results in a more accurate perception of the lower risks from SLT than from smoking.