The prevalence of pathogenic periodontal microflora in healthy young adultsmokers

Background: Smoking is a major risk factor in periodontitis, although the m echanisms of its effects are not well understood. The overall goal of this clinical study was to determine if smoking enhances the colonization of the oral cavity by pathogenic bacteria in a periodontitis-free population. The prevalence of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingival is, Prevotella intermedia, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Campylobacter rectus, E ikenella corrodens, Bacteroides forsythus, and Treponema denticola was inve stigated in 25 smokers and 25 non-smokers by using DNA probes. Methods: The subjects were 21 to 35 years of age with a healthy periodontiu m or slight gingivitis and were systemically healthy. The test group includ ed subjects who had a minimum of a 1.5 pack-year history of smoking, while the control subjects never smoked. Subgingival plaque samples were taken by paper point following the assessment of multiple clinical parameters. Results: This investigation showed: 1) no statistically significant differe nces were noted in any clinical parameter measured between the groups; 2) o f the 8 subjects who were infected by at least 1 tested pathogen, seven wer e smokers (P = 0.02); 3) infected smokers had a 15.7 +/- 3.5 pack-year hist ory and smoked a mean of 27 +/- 5 cigarettes/day versus 4.4 +/- 0.8 pack ye ars and 15 +/- 1 cigarettes/day for the non-infected smokers (P = 0.0001 an d P = 0.004); and 4) smokers were 18 times more likely to exhibit the prese nce of pathogens than non-smokers. Conclusions: These data indicate that the prevalence of colonization of the sulcus by pathogenic bacterial species in periodontitis-free individuals i s related to the quantity and duration of cigarette smoking.