Periodontitis lesions in smokers and non-smokers

Differences in the progression of periodontitis have been observed between smokers and non-smokers. The aim of the present study was to compare vascular and inflammatory cell densities in periodontitis lesions from smokers and non-smokers to gain further understanding of the influence of smoking on histopathological characteristics of the disease. Two groups of patients with generalized severe periodontitis were recruited. One group consisted of 25 current smokers, aged 33-69 yr, while the second group comprised 21 non-smokers, aged 35-76 yr. From each patient, gingival biopsies were harvested from one periodontitis site (probing pocket depth >= 6 mm and bleeding on probing) and one site without clinical signs of gingival inflammation (reference site). Immunohistochemical analyses were performed to assess the density of vessels and inflammatory cells. Small differences existed between smokers and non-smokers regarding the size, proportion, number, and density of cells in periodontitis lesions. However, the vascular density in periodontitis lesions was significantly higher in non-smokers than in smokers. In clinically healthy reference sites, lesions were considerably smaller than in periodontitis sites and presented with similar vascular densities in smokers and non-smokers.