University of Birmingham
A new study has confirmed that regular smokers have a significantly increased risk of tooth loss.
Male smokers are up to 3.6 times more likely to lose their teeth
than non-smokers, whereas female smokers were found to be 2.5 times more
likely.
The research, published in the Journal of Dental
Research, is the output of a long-term longitudinal study of the EPIC
Potsdam cohort in Germany carried out by researchers at the University of Birmingham
and the German Institute of Human Nutrition.
Tooth loss remains a major public health problem worldwide. In the UK, 15% of 65-74 year olds and over 30% of 75+ year olds are edentate (have lost all of their natural teeth). Globally, the figure is closer to 30% for 65-74 year olds.
Lead author Professor Thomas Dietrich, from the University of
Birmingham, explained, "Most teeth are lost as a result of either caries
(tooth decay) or chronic periodontitis (gum disease). We know that smoking is a
strong risk factor for periodontitis, so that may go a long way towards
explaining the higher rate of tooth loss in smokers."
Smoking can mask gum bleeding, a key symptom of periodontitis.
As a result, the gums of a smoker can appear to be healthier than they actually
are.
Professor Dietrich added, "It's really unfortunate that
smoking can hide the effects of gum disease as people often don't see the
problem until it is quite far down the line. The good news is that quitting
smoking can reduce the risk fairly quickly. Eventually, an ex-smoker would have
the same risk for tooth loss as someone who had never smoked, although this can
take more than ten years."
Kolade Oluwagbemigun, from the German Institute of Human
Nutrition, said, "Gum disease and consequential tooth loss may be the
first noticeable effect on a smoker's health. Therefore, it might give people
the motivation to quit before the potential onset of a life-threatening
condition such as lung disease or lung cancer."
The findings were independent of other risk factors such as
diabetes, and are based on data from 23,376 participants which aimed to
evaluate the associations between smoking, smoking cessation and tooth loss in
three different age groups.
The association between smoking and tooth loss was stronger
among younger people than in the older groups. In addition, the results clearly
demonstrated that the association was dose-dependent; heavy smokers had higher
risk of losing their teeth than smokers who smoked fewer cigarettes.
Professor Heiner Boeing, also from the German Institute of Human
Nutrition, added, "In addition to the many noted benefits for
cardiovascular health, and risk of lung disease and cancer, it is clear that
dental health is yet another reason not to take up smoking, or to quit smoking
now."
