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

INTRODUCTION: 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.

AIM: 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.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 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).

RESULTS: 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).

CONCLUSION: 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.