The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence-Smokeless Tobacco: Exploring the Intricate Relationship between Smokeless...

Around 50-60% of the smokeless tobacco users either place the quid or chew from one side of the oral cavity leading to localized destruction of the periodontium on chronic usage. The aim of the present study was to assess the correlation between smokeless tobacco dependence and periodontal status in the affected individuals through the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence-Smokeless Tobacco (FTND-ST)/Fagerström scale.

The present evaluative study consisted of 103 subjects who gave positive history of smokeless tobacco usage and exhibited poor periodontal health. Again, a comprehensive periodontal examination was carried out including Gingival Index (GI), Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S), probing pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment level (CAL), while the tobacco/nicotine dependence in the subjects was assessed using the FTND-ST/Fagerström scale, and data obtained subjected to statistical analysis.

The findings of the present study suggested significant correlations among the different parameters studied including age and PPD, age and CAL, gender and GI, gender and OHI-S, GI and OHI-S, GI and PPD, GI and CAL, OHI-S and CAL, and PPD and CAL with several clinical implications of interest, while, also, statistically significant correlations were observed between Fagerström tobacco/nicotine dependence and CAL (P value = 0.0130).

The findings of the present study offer valuable insights into the intricate relationship between tobacco/nicotine dependence and the changing dynamics of the observed periodontal parameters. However, the initial findings obtained in the present study mandate further multicentric studies to be conducted with larger sample sizes and increased sample diversity to come to valid conclusions.