Study of Gum Health in Smokers

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate periodontal health among smokers, including a random sample of 30 males (15 smokers and 15 non-smokers) from those attending the dental clinic at Al-Jazeera Primary Health Care Center in Misrata city, Data were collected by distributing a questionnaire to the sample and performing a clinical examination to assess their periodontal health, It was found that most smokers experience an increase in the appearance of periodontal disease symptoms after a period of smoking, and that 26.67% of smokers consume 20 cigarettes or more per day, indicating high cigarette consumption, 53.33% of the sample underwent professional scaling in the clinic, and the largest percentage of them were smokers, 83.33% of the sample had not undergone any periodontal surgeries, with the highest percentage of those who performed surgeries being smokers. Additionally, 66.67% of the sample do not clean their teeth regularly, and the vast majority of the sample (96.67%) visit the dentist only when feeling pain, There are differences in the presence of the health problems included in the study between the two groups, and their prevalence was higher among smokers than non-smokers, such as gingival swelling, discoloration, halitosis, dental calculus, and tooth mobility. 6.67% of the sample had a gingival health index of 0, 46.67% index 1, 36.67% index 2, and 10% index 3. The percentages of indices 0 and 1 were higher among non-smokers, while the percentages of 2 and 3 were higher among smokers. The most common oral and periodontal health problem suffered by the sample members was gingivitis (66.67%), and the least was tooth mobility (6.67%). From the hypothesis testing, it was found that smoking affects periodontal health.