Association of passive smoking with dental development in young children

Abstract

Aim To assess dental development in young children who have been exposed to passive smoking by comparing dental ages with the corresponding features in a healthy control group. Materials and methods A total of 90 passive smokers (PS) with a mean age of 5.49 years and 90 healthy age-matched controls were included in this study. The children were investigated for stimulated salivary cotinine level. Three categories were formed with respect to the number of cigarettes smoked. Dental development was analysed using panoramic radiographs. Results The dose-response relationship between the cotinine levels of the PS subjects and the number of cigarettes smoked per day was found to be significantly different for the three exposure categories. A significant difference was found between the chronological and dental ages of PS subjects when compared with those of the control group, but there were no significant differences in dental ages related to gender in both groups. Conclusion We could clearly conclude that young children who were PS subjects had delayed dental development.