Oral Health Consequences of Use of Smokeless Tobacco in North India: A Cross-Sectional Survey

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the effects of commonly used smokeless tobacco forms on oral health at habitual placement sites of smokeless tobacco compared to non-placement sites among the North Indian population. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 542 individuals using smokeless tobacco recruited from the outpatient wing of the Dental College. Subjects completed a questionnaire and received an oral examination. Periodontal pocket depth, gingival index, plaque index, gingival recession, and oral mucosal changes were assessed. Kendal’s Tau test, paired t-test, and chi-square test were carried out to compare different variables among placement and non-placement sites. Results: Most of the subjects were male, reporting an average of 11.26 years of SLT use. Clinical inflammation of gingiva was significantly greater (p=0.01) at placement-sites (1.64 ± 0.53) of SLT in comparison to non-placement-sites (1.40 ± 0.41). The difference in the GR and PPD at placement and non-placement-sites was also statistically significant with p=0.002 and p=0.001, respectively. Clinically, the majority of subjects had mucosal changes at the placement sites, and a statistically significant association (p=0.034) was observed between the duration of the use of smokeless tobacco and the mucosal changes. Conclusion: Smokeless tobacco use predisposes to increased risk of periodontal diseases and oral mucosal changes at the placement sites in an individual due to the local irritant effect.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Agrawal,Neha, Aggarwal,Anshul, Gupta,Narinder Dev, Tewari,Rajendra Kumar, Gupta,Juhi, Garg,Amit Kumar
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Associação de Apoio à Pesquisa em Saúde Bucal 2021
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1983-46322021000100324
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