Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background and Aim: During this twenty-first century, tobacco could kill up to one billion people. Most tobacco users want to quit but will be unable to because of their dependence on a highly addictive substance. Present study was conducted to know the prevalence of smoking and smokeless tobacco use, its impact on periodontal disease and the quitting behavior in a population. Material and Methods: The present cross sectional study was conducted among 1550 participants for the period of 5 months at western part of India. A pre-structured and pre-tested schedule was used for collection of relevant data pertaining to smoking form of tobacco. The socio-demographic variables collected were age, sex, educational attainment and occupation of the participant and income of the family. Subjects were interviewed about their smoking status. Details on the different forms of smoking product used, including cigarette, bidi and tobacco were obtained from the smokers. Results: 190 out of 1550 were found to be exclusive tobacco users. Among 190 current smokers, 148 were males and 42 were females. More smokers were found to be males than females and the difference was found to be statistically significant Current tobacco users by their previous attempts to quit in which 61.4% current smokers and 21.3% smokeless tobacco users and 7.2% both users have attempted to quit in the past 3 months. Plaque Index is significantly higher in Yes group (p≤0.05) similar result were obtained in Gingival index and Probing depth score. Conclusion: Tobacco usage not only contributes to periodontal disease, but spurs the development of oral cancer, smoking cessation should be considered in the treatment of periodontitis and be a part of health prevention in dentistry. Key words: Plaque Index, Periodontal disease, Smoking, Tobacco