Tobacco use and oral hygiene as risk indicators for periodontitis.
OBJECTIVE
To detect the periodontal status of male smokers and betel chewers in a rural community in Sri Lanka and compare it with that of male non-tobacco users of the same community.


METHODS
A cross-sectional community based study was carried out in a sample of 2277 rural adult males aged 20-60 years, adopting multistage cluster sampling technique. The present analysis was confined to 2178 subjects who were mutually exclusive smokers, betel chewers or non-tobacco users. The periodontal status was assessed by clinical measurement of levels of bacterial plaque (PLI), gingival inflammation (GI) and loss of epithelial attachment (LA). All measurements were carried out on four sites of all teeth present except third molars and the mean values for periodontal parameters were calculated.


RESULTS
Bivariate analysis revealed that the overall periodontitis levels were significantly higher in betel chewers and smokers than in non-tobacco users. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that there were no significant effects of smoking and betel chewing per se on LA, independent of age, socioeconomic status (SES) and whether or not controlled for PLI. The effect of the quantified tobacco use on LA was statistically significant regardless of age, PLI or SES. However, the effect of the quantified tobacco use was considered limited when compared to that of oral hygiene.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings highlighted the importance of oral hygiene in the aetiology of periodontitis while confirming the statistical significance of the quantified tobacco use on LA. Oral hygiene and the quantified tobacco use may be considered as risk indicators for periodontitis.
Amarasena
Najith
N
Division of Preventive Dentistry, Department of Oral Health Science, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan. najith@dent.niigata-u.ac.jp
Ekanayaka
Asoka N I
AN
Herath
Lilani
L
Miyazaki
Hideo
H
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001114:Areca / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017622:Periodontal Attachment Loss / Q000453:epidemiology; D010512:Periodontal Index; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires