SMOKING INCREASES RISK OF PERIODONTAL DISEASE

Listen

Select:

Study, links smoking, gum disease

SMOKERS are at much greater risk for gum disease than non-smokers, according to a study in the Journal of Periodontology.

The study in the May issue found that current smokers are four times more likely than people who have never smoked to have advanced periodontal disease. Former smokers were also more likely to have periodontal disease compared to people who had never smoked.

"Cigarette smoking may well be the major preventable risk factor for periodontal disease," said Scott Tomar, DMD, DrPH, the study's lead researcher. "The good news is that quitting seems to gradually erase the harmful effects of tobacco use on periodontal health."

The study estimated that 55 percent of periodontitis cases in the United States occurred among current smokers and 22 percent among former smokers.

The study also estimated that 75 percent of periodontitis among current smokers was attributable to their smoking.

Researchers learned that the odds of gum disease declined with the number of years since people quit smoking.

Eleven years after quitting, former smokers' likelihood of having gum disease was not much different from those who had never smoked.

The study also found that there was a relationship between the number of cigarettes smoked each day and the odds of periodontitis.

"Smokers who smoked less than a half a pack per day were almost three times more likely than non-smokers to have periodontitis. Those who smoked more than a pack and a half per day had almost six times the risk," Tomar said.

Smoking interferes with healing, making smokers more likely to not respond to treatment and to lose teeth, according to the study.

Periodontal disease has been linked to increased risk of heart disease, stroke, poorly controlled diabetes, respiratory disease and premature babies, according to the study.