Smoke: risk factor in the periodontium and implantology?

Abstract

About 30% of adult patients are smokers. For this, dentists involved in periodontal treatment or in implants must consider the habit, discussing with the pa- tients the clinical aspects of the treatment and prognostic. The osseointegration and bony repair need an efficient and fast circula- tion. The deleterious effects of the smoking habit constitute a serious restriction to these osseointegra- tion requirements. In the studies that analyzed the influence and role of smoking in the destruc- tive periodontal disease, and in the increase of flaw probability in dental endosseous implant, it has been found a higher percent- age of these problems, with users’ rates many times higher than 25% (maximum acceptable according to the literature). This has occurred, principally, in the maxillary re- gion with short implants (7mm) and bone of type quality. It is also important the verification that the abandoning of the habit, even for a short period of time, increases, significantly the success index in implants. Key words: smoking, os- seointegration, implants flaws, success index.