Environmental tobacco smoke is associated with periodontitis in US non-smokers

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-03/iaa-ets031215.php

Public Release: 13-Mar-2015
International & American Associations for Dental Research

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Periodontitis affects approximately 47% of adults in the United States and the U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that cigarette smoking is one of its causes. Despite numerous adverse health effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), an association between periodontitis and this "second-hand smoke" in non-smokers remains questionable. In this study, the researchers aimed to investigate the association between serum cotinine and periodontitis among U.S. non-smokers.

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The percentage (95%CL) of non-smokers with serum cotinine levels ?0.015ng/ml was 57.4% (54.5, 60.3) and 31% (28.1, 33.9) had moderate/severe periodontitis. The unadjusted odds of moderate/severe periodontitis was 62% higher [OR(95%CL)=1.62(1.32, 1.98)] among the exposed compared to the unexposed. There was no significant effect modification by race/ethnicity (p >0.9). In the fully adjusted analysis, non-smokers exposed to ETS had 1.45 times the odds of moderate/severe periodontitis as unexposed non-smokers [OR(95%CL)=1.45(1.18, 1.77)]. ETS exposure was significantly associated with greater odds of moderate/severe periodontitis among adult U.S non-smokers.

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