Majallah-i Dānishgāh-i ̒Ulūm-i Pizishkī-i Bābul (Oct 1999)
The relationship between cigarette smoking and oral mucosal lesions
Abstract
Objective: Smoking is one of the recent social problems. Oral and pharyngeal mucosa are the first regions exposed to smoke. The main aim of this research was to detect and determine the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions caused by smoking. Relationship of duration and frequency of smoking to oral mucosal lesions has been studied as well. Methods: In this study, 206 males (104 smokers as case group and 102 nonsmokers as control group) were examined. All subjects were selected from three prisons in the Mazandaran province. The subjects were of the same age and had no systemic problem. All patients were examined for coated and hairy tongue, white keratotic lesions, leukoedema, median rhomboid glossitis, nicotinic stomatitis, pigmentation and red lesions. The obtained data were analyzed. Findings: 97.1% of smokers had at least one lesion in their mouth. The more the duration and frequency of smoking, the more prevalent the oral lesions. Most of the lesions were in gingiva (64.4%). The most prevalent finding was pigmentation (7.7%). All lesions were related to smoking (P<0.05) except hairy tongue and red lesions. Conclusion: All smoking-related mucosal lesions were without premalignant potential. Increased duration and frequency of smoking together with aging caused oral lesions to develop more.
