Periodontitis and smoking - an indulgence with serious consequences

Cancer, cardiovascular disorders, impotence - just one cigarette is a bundle of dangers. It's not for nothing that they say "the body smokes with you". We even inhale the health risk voluntarily - with pleasure. However, we often pay for the consequences with our lives. In Germany alone, between 10,000 and 14,000 people die every year from the side effects of nicotine consumption. Experts estimate that as many as six million people die worldwide.

However, the incapacity for work report also gives cause for concern, according to which absenteeism among AOK policyholders due to the consumption of addictive substances such as tobacco has risen by around 17 percent in the last ten years. While there were 2.07 million days of incapacity to work in 2002, this figure had risen to 2.47 million by 2012. The Scientific Institute of the AOK (WIdO) thus identified nicotine, together with alcohol, as the main cause of absenteeism in 2013.

Smoking makes your mouth sick

We immediately associate smoking with lung cancer, but rarely with Periodontitis, the chronic inflammation of the tooth bed. Yet tobacco consumption is just as much a threat to our dental and oral health. The gums become inflamed, the teeth lose their hold, change their position and fall out more frequently.

The reason for the increased risk of periodontitis is impaired blood circulation in the mouth, triggered by the ingredients in tobacco. Smoking not only leaves vascular deposits (plaques) on the heart and legs, the oral cavity is also affected. As the arteries here are much finer than in other organs and constrict more quickly due to the deposits, negative side effects occur earlier. One of the most common side effects is periodontitis. Smokers' immune systems are weakened by regular nicotine consumption, making it easy for gum inflammation to take hold. Oral bacteria can defend themselves more easily against the body's defenses and settle in the gum pockets. At the same time, the impaired blood circulation makes the gums more susceptible to infections, as the supply of nutrients and oxygen is restricted by the stubborn vascular deposits.

Smoking and periodontitis - insidious allies

A US study shows how closely periodontitis is actually linked to tobacco consumption. When analyzing around 13,000 population data in the USA, the researchers found a significantly increased risk of periodontitis among smokers. Subjects who consumed less than half a pack of cigarettes a day were three times more susceptible to inflammation of the periodontium. In contrast, the risk was six times higher with a daily consumption of one and a half packs.

However, the increased susceptibility is not the only cause for concern. It is not uncommon for the success of treatment to leave much to be desired. Periodontitis expert Dr. Joachim Kowollik takes stock in the dental journal "Die Quintessenz": If periodontitis therapy fails, this happens in 90 percent of cases in smokers. Once again, this is due to impaired blood circulation in the oral cavity, which has a negative effect on the supply of nutrients and oxygen. It often stands in the way of wound healing.

In addition to treatment, however, diagnosis can also be delayed. The typical symptoms of gum inflammation, such as redness and swelling, often go unnoticed for longer in smokers, as the gums, which are less well supplied with blood, can appear paler than in non-smokers. This means that periodontitis is often much more advanced in smokers than in non-smokers, usually towards the periodontium.