NICOTINE AS AN INDICATOR OF TOBACCO EXPOSURE AND ITS EFFECT ON ORAL HEALTH
Tobacco use is termed as modern global epidemic. Nicotine is considered the most pharmacologically active component in tobacco. Thus the present study is undertaken to assess and correlate the periodontal status of 35-44 year old male tobacco users with their nicotine concentration in Blood and Urine.
METHODS:
A cross sectional institution based study was conducted to assess the periodontal status of different tobacco users andthe nicotine concentration in their blood and urine. The study instrument consisted of a questionnaire for recordinginformation on tobacco use. The second part was for recording the clinical data using Community Periodontal Index. Thethird part was to record the concentration of nicotine in blood and urine by spectrophotometry. Karl Pearson Chi-squaretest and Karl Pearson Correlation tests were used and data was analysed using SPSS -17 software.
RESULTS:
In this study of 150 male subjects, the findings showed tobacco users with the highest prevalence of periodontal disease. When blood and urine nicotine levels were compared with various forms of tobacco users, the nicotine levels was maximum in beedi smokers and minimum in cigarette smokers. However, there was no significant correlation when periodontal status was correlated with nicotine levels in blood and urine (p>0.0005).
CONCLUSIONS:
The findings suggested a marked association between tobacco use and prevalence of periodontal disease. The present study showed that blood and urine nicotine level is increased in various tobacco users compared to non-tobacco users. The nicotine levels in blood and urine may be considered as good indicators to assess the exposure to tobacco in our population.