Assessment of Periodontal Health Status in Smokers and Smokeless Tobacco Users: A Cross-Sectional Study

Oral smokeless tobacco consumption has been considered as a major risk factor for oral cancer, its role as a risk factor for periodontal disease is less well documented when compared to that of relationship between smoking and periodontal disease.

The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to evaluate the effect of various forms of tobacco consumption i.e., smoking and smokeless tobacco forms on periodontal status.

The study population included 120 subjects with the habit of tobacco consumption, based on form of tobacco use they were divided into Group 1 (smoking), Group 2 (Smokeless tobacco), and Group 3 (smokers and smokeless tobacco users). The periodontal status for each group was evaluated by measuring Oral Hygiene Index- Simplified (OHI-S) and Community Periodontal Index (CPI) for Probing Depth (CPI-PD) and Attachment Loss (CPI-AL).

OHI-S mean scores in Group 1 (3.53±1.03), Group 2 (3.06±0.92) and Group 3 (3.45±0.96) were similar, which were not statistically significant (p>0.076). The mean values of CPI-PD were 3.75±0.44 in Group 1, 3.65±0.48 in Group 2, 3.80±0.41 in Group 3 with no significant difference between the three Groups (p> 0.309). When the mean values of CPI-AL (0.95±0.75 in Group 1, 1.40±0.74 in group 2, and 1.55±0.60 in Group 3) were compared in between the Groups, a statistically significant difference was observed in Group 3 (p<0.001).

The results showed that tobacco consumption in both forms caused poor periodontal status, with smokeless tobacco users having more amount of attachment loss than smokers.