Oral and dental complications of tobacco use

Introduction: Oral health issues are among the major complications of smoking tobacco. The oral and dental problems caused by the use of tobacco lead to patient discomfort, lack of self-confidence, low social acceptability and, overall lower quality of life. Methods: This study is a descriptive review. PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and Science Direct databases were searched using the MeSH terms “Tobacco, Smoking, tobacco use and Oral Health”. The selection of articles was restricted to English articles published since ۲۰۱۲. Results: The findings of this study are mentioned below: Dental and oral problems caused by tobacco use: development of caries, tooth stains, calculus accumulation, hyposalivation and dry mouth, implant failure, post-operative infections and marginal bone loss after implant surgery, poor prognosis of dental treatment, impaired socket healing after extractions, Gingival problems (such as periodontal disease, gingival recession and gingival bleeding) oral mucosal lesions (such as nicotine stomatitis, oral potentially malignant disorders, oral SCC, smoker’s melanosis and frictional keratosis), weak defensive immune response in the oral cavity, less dental visits, poor self-reported oral health, colonization of candida species and black hairy tongue.Conclusion: Oral health is an important component of general health and tobacco smokers face serious problems in this field. Studies show that smokers are aware of their poor oral health but yet the frequency of dental visits is less among this population. It is, therefore, recommended that smokers should be encouraged to visit dentists for prevention, treatment and proper diagnosis of potentially dangerous conditions in their oral cavity. More importantly they should be encouraged to quit smoking as oral disease is not without consequences if allowed to persist. It should also be pointed out to them that Cessation can stop or even reverse the progress of oral and dental disease caused by smoking.

Keywords:

Oral Health , Tobacco , Smoking