Effect of Alcohol Consumption Severity on Oral Health Status in Relation to Salivary Parameters, Smoking and Tooth Wear in Baghdad, Iraq

Abstract

Background: Alcohol consumption not only affects the general health yet in addition the dental and gingival
health of a person. Heavy drinkers are at high danger of creating dental caries, gingival health alteration
and tooth disintegration. This condition brings about change in the salivary gland function. Alcohol abuse
with smoking have diverse effects on oral health. This study presented to evaluate the effect of alcohol
consumption severity on oral health in relation to salivary parameters, smoking and tooth wear in Baghdad,
Iraq.
Materials and Method: One hundred and twenty 35-40 years old men with alcohol consumption selected
randomly. Alcohol consumption individuals classified into three groups according to frequency of alcohol
consumption: regular drinker (GA), frequent drinker (GB) and occasion drinker (GC). Each group consists
of 40 individuals. Gingival (GI), calculus (CI) and dental caries (DMFT) indices were utilized to assess
dental and gingival health for all individuals. Parameters of saliva including flow rate and pH assessed
immediately. Tooth wear (TW) was estimated according to the presence or absence of dentine. Smoking
was recorded directly from individual. The results of present study was dissected utilizing SPSS version 23.
Results: The median is higher in GA than GB and GC with highly significant difference between groups.
For PII, median is higher in GC than other groups, but the mean rank is higher in GA than other groups
(no significant difference). For both GI and CI, median and mean rank are higher in GA than others with
significant difference between them. Salivary flow rate and pH means are higher in GC than other groups with
highly significant differences regarding pH. The high percentage of drinker with tooth wear was recorded in
GA compared to other groups with significant difference. The median and mean rank are higher in smoking
drinker than non-smoking drinkers with highly significant difference.
Conclusion: Dental caries, periodontal diseases, tooth wear and lower salivary pH were more presented in
individuals with more frequent alcohol consumption. Alcohol drinking with smoking increase the occurrence
of dental caries.