Smoking and its impact on pulp and periodontal health

Abstract

Introduction: according to the World Health Organization, smoking is one of the greatest public health problems worldwide. It is a well known fact that smoking interferes in different ways with the health of oral tissue, and is directly related to oral health problems. Objective: conduct a bibliographic review on the topic "Smoking and its impact on pulp and periodontal health". Methods: a careful review was conducted of scientific papers published in the last five years (2012-2016) about topics related to the following descriptor combinations: dental pulp "and" pulpectomy "and" periodontics "and" tobacco; dental pulp "and" pulpectomy "and" tobacco; pulpectomy "and" tobacco; periodontics "and" tobacco. The databases used were PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, SciELO and Lilacs. 36 studies were found based on the above descriptors. Data analyse and integration: the studies showed that the use of tobacco and its by-products directly impact the health and homeostasis of the pulp and periodontal tissues, and is related to tooth loss and an increase in the need for endodontic treatment. Conclusions: tobacco use significantly impacts pulp and periodontal health, causing physiological and metabolic alterations, and affecting the pulp connective tissue and the periodontal tissue.