Active and passive smoking and prevalence of periodontal disease in young Japanese women

Abstract

Studies reporting on the association between smoking and periodontal disease have mostly focused on active smoking. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between active smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke at home and at work and the prevalence of periodontal disease among young Japanese women. Study subjects were 1167 postpartum women with a mean age of 31.5years. Information on smoking and potential confounding factors was obtained through a self-administered questionnaire. Partial-mouth recording was used to determine probing pocket depth at six sites per tooth for six teeth in the mouth. Periodontal disease was defined as positive if a woman had at least one tooth with a probing pocket depth of 3.5mm or deeper. Adjustment was made for age, region of residence, household income, education, toothbrushing frequency and use of an interdental brush. Compared with never smoking, ever smoking was independently positively associated with the prevalence of periodontal disease: the adjusted odds ratio was 1.56 (95% confidence interval: 1.02-2.36). There was a marginally significant positive dose-response relationship between pack-years of smoking and the prevalence of periodontal disease (p for linear trend=0.08). No material associations were observed between second-hand smoke exposure at home or at work and periodontal disease. Our findings suggest that active smoking, but not passive smoking, might be associated with an increased prevalence of periodontal disease among young women in Japan.