![]() | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Periodontal disease has a multifactorial origin. The bacterial biofilm has been recognized as the primary cause of periodontitis. While host response together with local variables such as plaque and calculus influence disease progression, genetics, environmental factors, the patient’s systemic health, lifestyle, and different social determinants likewise contribute to periodontal disease development. Therefore, it is critical to focus on country-specific risk factors for periodontitis in order to create appropriate educational programs and effective disease prevention measures that best serve the public oral and hence overall health. This hospital based cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the effect of waterpipe smoking on periodontal health in a sample of adult Egyptian patients. It included 322 medically fit volunteers who were consecutively enrolled in the study from the diagnostic center at Cairo University’s Faculty of Dentistry. A personal interview was conducted with the patient face-to-face using clear, brief, and easily understood words to complete a well-structured questionnaire that investigated their age, gender, educational attainment, income, oral health behaviors, and tobacco habits, including waterpipe smoking duration (heads smoked per day), and extent of usage (age of initiation and number of sessions per week). All permanent fully erupted teeth, except for third molars, were evaluated at six different sites for plaque index (PI), bleeding on probing (BOP), pocket depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), and gingival recession depth (RD). Periodontal disease diagnosis and case identification were done in accordance with the 2017 periodontal disease classification. The SPSS program was used for statistical analysis. The overall prevalence of waterpipe smoking among the study sample was 17.7%. Majority of waterpipe smokers were males with good socioeconomic status and a daily frequency of tooth brushing. There was a statistically significant association between periodontal diseases and waterpipe smoking. Even though most waterpipe smokers performed daily tooth brushing, stage II periodontitis (46.2%) was the most prevalent periodontal disease among waterpipe smokers, followed by stage I periodontitis (30.8%), gingivitis (15.4%) and stage III (7.7%). Waterpipe smokers showed significantly greater PI, PD, CAL, and RD than nonsmokers, while nonsmokers showed a significantly higher BOP mean percentage than waterpipe smokers. Waterpipe smoking was found to impair the normal periodontal health of its users in almost the same way as cigarette smoking does. Therefore, it should no longer be considered a safer substitute for cigarette smoking. This study’s findings highlight a lack of awareness of the negative consequences of waterpipe smoking, even among well-educated Egyptians with good socioeconomic status, which is why future public health education programmers are needed to educate schoolchildren, university students, and even families about the risks of waterpipe smoking on the systemic health in general and on the oral cavity in particular, dispelling mistaken beliefs that lead to a reduced sense of harm of waterpipe tobacco use |