Investigation of periodontal parameters and toxic elements in teeth due to smoking using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

The harmful health effects of nicotine, carbon monoxide and other noxious gases due to tobacco smoke are well known. However there is no systematic study reported regarding the detection of heavy and trace metals such as cadmium, lead, arsenic present in the periodontium due to heavy tobacco smoking. Hence there is high demand to develop a reliable, fast and in situ technique for detection of these elements which have injurious effects on smoker's teeth in general and health in particular. This study aimed to compare between the clinical periodontal parameters of smokers versus non-smokers and measure the concentration of above mentioned toxic elements present in root surfaces of the extracted teeth from each group. Sixty extracted teeth from patients having history of chronic periodontitis were divided into two groups 30 teeth each according to smoking habits (Smoker or non smoker group) and another 30 extracted teeth from non smoking patients who didn't have history of chronic periodontitis were considered as controls. Gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), clinical attachment loss (CAL) and probing pocket depth (PD) were recorded and after extraction of the affected teeth, chemical analysis was conducted using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique developed recently at our laboratory. The increased lead levels on root surfaces of periodontally diseased teeth in smokers explained the increased CAL and periodontal destruction in these cases. Toxic elements like cadmium and arsenic were detected in teeth of both smoker and non-smoker group which may be due to contamination from the outside environment and bad dental hygienic conditions.