Smoking and dental implants

Smoking is a prevalent behaviour in the population. The aim of this review is to bring to light the effects of smoking on dental implants. These facts will assist dental professionals when implants are planned in tobacco users. A search of “PubMed” was made with the key words “dental implant,” “nicotine,” “smoking,” “tobacco,” and “osseointegration.” Also, publications on tobacco control by the Government of India were considered. For review, only those articles published from 1988 onward in English language were selected. Smoking has its influence on general as well as oral health of an individual. Tobacco negatively affects the outcome of almost all therapeutic procedures performed in the oral cavity. The failure rate of implant osseointegration is considerably higher among smokers, and maintenance of oral hygiene around the implants and the risk of peri-implantitis are adversely affected by smoking. To increase implant survival in smokers, various protocols have been recommended. Although osseointegrated dental implants have become the state of the art for tooth replacement, they are not without limitations or complications. In this litigious era, it is extremely important that the practitioner clearly understands and is able and willing to convey the spectrum of possible complications and their frequency to the patients.