Smoking Cessation Lowers Harmful Bacteria
Smoking Cessation Lowers Harmful BacteriaAn investigation spearheaded by The Ohio State University (OSU) to better understand how specific subgingival bacteria respond to smoking cessation reveals a beneficial shift in bacterial presence among individuals who quit smoking. The study documents how
Smoking Cessation Lowers Harmful Bacteria
An investigation spearheaded by The Ohio State University (OSU) to better understand how specific subgingival bacteria respond to smoking cessation reveals a beneficial shift in bacterial presence among individuals who quit smoking. The study documents how smoking cessation acts jointly with non-surgical periodontal therapy to lower levels of harmful bacterial, while raising levels of healthful bacteria.
The study tracked 22 subjects whose plaque samples were tested at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months. Among the subjects were 11 who quit smoking and 11 who continued to smoke.
Comparisons at 6 months and 12 months illustrated significant difference in the microbial profile between smokers and non-smokers. Among subjects who continued to smoke throughout the test period, little change was noted in their bacterial levels between baseline readings and readings taken at 12 months. Subjects who stopped smoking during the test, however, demonstrated considerably different bacteria levels—lowering the presence of five different harmful bacteria. Levels of veillonella parvula increased among those who stopped smoking during the study.
The combination of root planing and smoking cessation caused greater numbers of health-associated microbes to recolonize subgingivally while lowering the presence of putative periodontal pathogens.
Most subgingival bacteria are not known or recognized as pathogens according to Dr. Purnima Kumar, assistant professor of periodontology at OSU, one of the study’s authors. The focus of Kumar’s current research is to identify previously unknown and unsuspected bacterial species associated with health and disease in smokers. “It is possible that smokers have a unique microbial profile that is different from non-smokers,” Kumar states on his faculty profile page on the OSU website.
Source: The Ohio State University.
