Fumo e parodontologia = Smoke and periodontology

OBJECTIVES Several epidemiological studies show that smoking is a significant risk factor for the development of periodontal diseases. Aim of this paper is to report the most recent data related to tobacco smoking and periodontal health. MATERIALS AND METHODS Recent literature was primary evaluated with a search on PubMed and Embase. RESULTS Data of the most recent literature confirm that smokers have more deep pockets and more attachment loss. As a consequence, tobacco users also tend to have a higher level of tooth loss than non-smokers after adjusting for oral hygiene, age, gender, and socio-economic level. At the same time, smokers show less favourable responses to periodontal treatments such as non-surgical, surgical, regeneration procedures, and muco-gin-gival surgery but also benefits of quitting to the treatment. CONCLUSIONS Dentists should know patient tobacco habits, use this information in treatment decisions and give advice to patients who are smokers suffering from periodontal disease.