Dental implantation: an opportunity to stop smoking

Cigarette smoking and tobacco consumption are serious hazards threatening the health of human beings. Several strategies have been proposed for smoking cessation in patients presenting to medical centers to seek treatment. Some believe that the dental profession plays a key role in quit smoking programs due to its extensive and long-term relationship with patients. Use of known strategies to create motivation for quitting smoking among patients has yielded relatively optimal results. However, it seems that patients' attitudes toward smoking can be changed if we enhance their knowledge about the hazards of tobacco consumption and its adverse effects on dental and oral health and especially the health of dental implants' surrounding structures. This study reports smoking cessation in two patients requiring dental implant treatment. Twenty-eight months after loading of implants, treatment success was confirmed by use of clinical and radiographic indices. No sign of peri-implant disease was detected and the patients were eagerly following the smoking cessation program. It seems that contemporary dental treatments, especially dental implant therapy, can provide a good opportunity to create the motivation required for lifestyle changes in patients.