Secondhand smoke may be associated with bone loss in subjects with periodontitis.

According to a study published the Journal of Periodontology (2007; 78: 730–735), subjects with periodontitis who were exposed to secondhand smoke were more likely to develop bone loss, which causes tooth loss.

Researchers studied rats that were induced with periodontal disease. One group was not exposed to cigarette smoke while the other two groups were exposed to either 30 days of smoke inhalation produced by non-light cigarettes (cigarettes containing higher tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels) or light cigarettes (cigarettes containing lower tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels).

Results showed that bone loss was greater in the subjects exposed to secondhand smoke, regardless of whether it was smoke from light or non-light cigarettes, than it was in those who were exposed to no smoke at all.

In other news, smoking cessation has been on the agenda for dental students at the University at Buffalo, New York, USA. In a new programme, third and fourth-year dental students are using non-judgmental tobacco counselling to encourage their patients to quit. Results presented at the 2007 International Association of Dental Research meeting in New Orleans showed that 51% of the 89 patients who accepted and received tobacco counselling from the student dentists agreed to quit immediately.

Of that number, 29 patients, or 32% were still smoke-free after six months. Othman Shibly, Assistant Professor of Periodontics and Endodontics who developed the programme said, 'When I took over the responsibility for the dental school's preventive dentistry program I thought that major changes needed to be made in the dental curriculum to close the gap between clinical research and clinical practice.

Students and dentists are taught about the effects of smoking on oral health but, in practice, we only do fillings and other procedures, so I led this effort to identify smoking as a dental problem that dentists should attend to.'