Periodontitis in smokers and non-smokers: intra-oral distribution of pockets

The purpose of the present study was to establish retrospectively whether the disease severity differs between smokers and non-smokers.

The study population consisted of 183 periodontitis patients, 79 smokers and 104 non-smokers. These subjects had been referred by general dentists to the Clinic for Periodontology, Utrecht, because of periodontal problems and were selected on the basis of the clinical diagnosis: adult periodontitis. The proportion of bleeding sites and the intra-oral distribution of probing pocket depth was evaluated.

No statistically-significant differences between smokers (SM) and non-smokers (NSM) were found regarding the mean % of sites that bled upon probing (SM=76%, NSM=72%). Overall differences in the prevalence of probing depths > or =5 mm between smokers and non-smokers were found (SM=44%, NSM=34%). The proportion of sites with a probing pocket depth of > or =5 mm was consistently higher in smokers in the anterior, premolar and molar regions. The data also show that in the upper jaw at the anterior and premolar teeth, the largest differences are found between smokers and non-smokers. Smokers have more sites with a pocket depth > or =5 mm, especially on the lingual surfaces of these teeth.

The present study indicates that cigarette smoking is a factor associated with deeper periodontal pockets and an intra-oral distribution that is suggestive of a local effect.