ORAL HEALTH EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE PROGRAM
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| Title |
Smoking Marijuana In Relation To Periodontal Disease |
| Clinical Question |
In patients with good periodontal health, does smoking marijuana increase the risk for developing periodontal disease as compared to non-smokers? |
| Clinical Bottom Line |
Smoking marijuana does not increase risk for developing periodontal disease as compared to non-smokers. (See Comments on the CAT below) |
| Best Evidence |
(you may view more info by clicking on the PubMed ID link) |
| PubMed ID |
Author / Year |
Patient Group |
Study type
(level of evidence) |
| #1) 19236530 | Lopez/2009 | Chilean high school students | Case-Control Study | | Key results | The study showed that those high school students who responded as “ever use of cannabis” was negatively correlated with the presence of NUG lesions (OR=0.47 [0.2;0.9]) among non-smokers only. The study also showed that “no significant associations were observed between the presence of [clinical attachment loss] > or =3 mm and cannabis use in either of the smoking groups.” This study found that there is no evidence to suggest that the use of cannabis is positively correlated to periodontal disease in this patient group. | |
| Evidence Search |
Search "Cannabis"[Mesh]Search "Periodontitis"[Mesh] |
Comments on
The Evidence |
The study defined the association between the use of cannabis and the signs of periodontal disease as “(1) the presence of necrotizing ulcerative gingival (NUG) lesions or (2) the presence of clinical attachment loss (CAL) > or =3 mm.” The use of cannabis was measured on a scale of “Ever used cannabis” (yes or no) to “Regular use of cannabis” (yes or no). This study doesn’t define what regular use of cannabis is and relies purely on the participants truthful answering of the survey. This study only surveyed one particular population and did not include or compare the results to other populations. The result of no correlation between use of cannabis and periodontal disease could be due to the age of the participants of the study and relative health of these participants. |
| Applicability |
The results of this study have limited applicability because it relates only to a certain population of a certain age. The age group is restricted to the pediatric population for whom the risk of developing periodontal disease is already low. |
| Specialty/Discipline |
(General Dentistry) (Pediatric Dentistry) (Periodontics) (Dental Hygiene) (Behavioral Science) |
| Keywords |
Marijuana, Cannabis, Periodontal Disease
|
| ID# |
843 |
| Date of submission: |
04/01/2011 |
| E-mail |
ara@livemail.uthscsa.edu |
| Author |
Sharmin Ara |
| Co-author(s) |
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| Co-author(s) e-mail |
|
| Faculty mentor/Co-author |
Archie Jones, DDS, MBA |
| Faculty mentor/Co-author e-mail |
JonesA@uthscsa.edu |
Basic Science Rationale
(Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?) |
post a rationale |
| None available | |
|
Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT
(FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs) |
post a comment |
by Randy Demetter, David Cox (San Antonio, TX) on 10/03/2014
A PubMed search on marijuana use and periodontal disease was performed October 2014. A more recent publication was found: Rawal 2012, PubMed: 23420976. While this study does not address the question of marijuana use and periodontal disease specifically, it does suggest that chronic marijuana use could be associated with phenytoin-like gingival enlargement as well as nicotine-like stomatitis and uvulitis. | |
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