Effect of environmental tobacco smoke on gingival pigmentation in children and young adults

Smoking is one of the most important environmental factors in the initiation of gingival pigmentation. Most studies have reported the effect of active smoking and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on gingival pigmentation. The aim of this study was to compare the gingival pigmentation in children exposed to environmental tobacco smoke with children who are not at risk.
In this case-control stud, 76 children aged 9-16 years were studied. The subjects were divided that into two equal groups based on being affected by environmental smoke or not. In both groups, gingival pigmentation index (GPI) was determined by clinical examination and in recorded in a questionnaire; salivary levels of cotinine enzyme were determined using ELISA. Data were analyzed with Mann–Whitney test, independent t-test, and Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation coefficients (α=0.05).
The means of salivary cotinine enzyme levels and gingival pigmentation index (GPI) were significantly higher in children affected by environmental tobacco smoke compared to those who were not (p value The results suggested a relationship between an increase in gingival pigmentation and salivary cotinine levels in children exposed to environmental tobacco smoke.