title: Smoking status and smoke-related gingival melanin pigmentation in army recruitments.
abstract: This study aimed to define the smoking status and smoke-related gingival melanin pigmentation in army recruitments and was conducted with army recruitments in Sivas. Nine hundred eight subjects were examined. The oral and dental health of those subjects was checked and recorded. The smoking status of the subjects was self-reported and recorded on questionnaires by researchers. The chi2 test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used for statistical analysis. More than one-half of the subjects (54.3%) were primary school graduates and the mean age was 20.2 +/- 0.95 years. The response rate regarding smoking was 100%. Of the respondents, 596 (65.7%) were current smokers, 12 (1.3%) were former smokers, and 300 (33.0%) were never smokers. The gingival melanin pigmentation rate was 27.5% in current smokers and 8.6% in those who never smoked (p = 0.000). Smoking five to nine cigarettes a day appeared to be sufficient to cause gingival melanin pigmentation. The proportion of smokers who had melanin pigmentation did not change after 10 cigarettes a day. A rehabilitation project on smoking prevention and smoking cessation for army recruitments is urgently needed.
authors.affiliation: Meram Medical Faculty, Department of Family Medicine, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kamile
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marakoğlu
authors.forename: U Kahraman
authors.initials: UK
authors.lastname: Gürsoy
authors.forename: Hülya Cakmak
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Toker
authors.forename: Serhat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Demirer
authors.forename: R Erol
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Sezer
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Marakoğlu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005881:Gingiva / Q000473:pathology*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008543:Melanins / Q000032:analysis*; D008548:Melanosis / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008887:Military Medicine; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009911:Oral Hygiene Index; D010560:Personnel Selection; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D008543:Melanins