Associations of electronic and conventional cigarette use with periodontal disease in South Korean adults.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the association of conventional cigarette smoking and electronic cigarette vaping with periodontal disease in South Korean adults. For this study, data from 13,551 participants, a subset derived from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 2013 and 2015, were examined. Participants were divided into four categories: electronic cigarettes vapers, conventional cigarettes smokers, ex-users, and non-users. Periodontal status was measured by the Community Periodontal Index. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association of periodontal disease with smoking and vaping individually. Out of 187 men and 35women who vape electronic cigarette, 67 (35.8%) men and 10 (28.6%) women had periodontal diseases. Out of 1,957 men and 363women who smoke conventional cigarettes, 861 (44.0%) men and 121 (35.3%) women had periodontal diseases. Periodontal disease was more prevalent in each vapers and smokers than non-users in men (electronic cigarettes: odds ratio [OR]=2.34, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.52 to 3.59, conventional cigarettes: OR=2.17, 95% CI=1.76 to 2.68). Furthermore, both vaping and smoking had significant relation to dental caries, toothache, and dental damages. Electronic and conventional cigarette use was each significantly associated with increased periodontal disease rates. After adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related characteristics, both vaping and smoking each had significant association with periodontal diseases. Therefore, this study suggests that vaping may not be a safe alternative to smoking. Cessation of both types of cigarettes is necessary for maintaining oral health.