Smoking has a negative effect on bone regeneration after periodontal treatment, according to a new study in the Journal of Periodontology (May 31, 2011).
Although the effects of smoking on soft tissue have been extensively studied, there has been little focus on its impact on bone regeneration, noted the study authors from King's College London Dental Institute. So they sourced prospective and retrospective clinical studies assessing bone regeneration in smokers and nonsmokers following periodontal therapy from five electronic databases. They also looked at clinical trials comparing different interventions that reported results separately for smokers and nonsmokers.
Six of the 10 studies included in this review concluded that smoking negatively influenced bone regeneration, according to the researchers.
A meta-analysis of a subgroup of three studies demonstrated that smoking resulted in significantly less bone gain as measured by a change in probing bone level, following the treatment of intrabony defects with guided tissue regeneration.
"Patients should be advised that their smoking habit may result in poorer bone regeneration following periodontal treatment," the authors concluded.
