Periodontal treatment in a patient who smokes

Abstract

Title: Periodontal Treatment in a Smoking Patient with Moderate Chronic Periodontitis: Experience at the Teaching Clinic of the Faculty of Dentistry (2024).

Introduction: Periodontal disease is a multifactorial condition affecting the supporting tissues of the teeth, causing gingival inflammation, bleeding, attachment loss, mobility, and, in advanced cases, tooth loss. Smoking is a key risk factor, present in 29.5% of the Mexican population, with an increasingly early age of onset. Tobacco smoke contains harmful substances such as nicotine, carbon monoxide, and benzene, which alter the periodontal microbiota. Bacteria like Porphyromonas gingivalis and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans stand out for their resistance to cigarette smoke and its toxic components. Case Presentation: A 43-year-old male patient presented with periodontal pockets >5 mm and grade III mobility in anterior teeth. The patient reported a daily consumption of one pack of cigarettes and a brushing frequency of once per day. He was diagnosed with generalized moderate chronic periodontitis, and as part of the treatment, scaling and root planing were performed to reduce gingival bleeding and inflammation. Discussion: In Mexico, the prevalence of periodontal disease in the adult population is estimated to be between 35% and 45%. In 2022, 19.5% of adults reported tobacco use, equivalent to approximately 16.6 million smokers. Conclusion: The greater the exposure to smoking, the higher the severity of periodontal disease due to tissue damage.