Effect of Smoking on Oral and Faecal Microbial Flora Studied by Gas-Liquid Chromatography of Bacterial Cellular Fatty Acids

Abstract

Because smoking negatively affects oral health, we investigated whether this could be due to adverse effects of smoking per se on human oral microflora. Faecal microflora was also analysed for comparison. Samples of whole saliva, dental plaque, pharynx and faeces were collected from 48 healthy young military conscripts, 24 smokers and 24 non-smokers, and studied by gas-liquid chromatography of bacterial cellular fatty acids. The method has proved to be fast and sensitive in detecting microfloral differences and their magnitudes. The results showed significant differences in microflorae between the different sample types (saliva, dental plaque, pharyngeal or faecal). However, there were no significant differences within any sample type between smokers and non-smokers. When oral health is good, smoking history short (mean 5.4 years) and groups otherwise uniform, moderate daily smoking does not seem to change human microbial florae.