Hina Toufique, Nighat Nisar, Sohail Saadat.
Tobacco Use and its Association with Gingivitis among Dental Students of Dow Dental College.
J Pak Dent Assoc Jan ;26(2):67-71.

Background: In developing world, tobacco use among doctors and dentists is a major issue. The doctors and dentists are considered as advocates of health and responsible for providing guidance to the population. However, smoking among health professionals especially dentists has been linked with many oral health issues including gingivitis. Objective: To determine the association of tobacco use with gingivitis among dental students of Dow Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 150 dental students of Dow Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan. Participants were asked to fill a self administered questionnaire containing questions regarding smoking habits, knowledge related to hazards of smoking and socio-demographic characteristics. The questions related to smoking were adopted from the National Adult Tobacco Survey (NATS) by Centre for Disease Control (CDC). The participants were examined for the presence of gingivitis using Gingival Index by the principal investigator. The examination was done with patient on dental chair in out-patient department of Dow Dental College. Results: The frequency of smoking was 92 (61%) among dental students of Dow Dental College. Similarly the frequency of smokeless tobacco use was present in 30 (20%) of individuals. The mean age of the students was 21.52 ?1.51 years. Mean age of initiation of smoking was 16.88 ? 4.01 years. Gingival index score was significantly higher among smokers 1.25? 0.91 as compared to non-smokers0.39 ? 0.63 (p-value<0.001) Conclusion: This study found high frequency of smoking among dental students and the gingival index score was higher among smokers as compared to non-smokers. KEYWORDS: Tobacco, Smoking, Gingivitis, Dental Students, Gingival Index.

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