Passive Smoking and Dental Caries in Children: A Review

Dental caries is an infectious, communicable and multi-factorial disease. Various factors may influence the disease process. Behavioral factors such as poor oral hygiene and the consumption of sugar-containing snacks are significant factors in caries lesion initiation. Several recent studies have suggested a connection between dental caries and parental smoking, especially with maternal smoking. Children are the most susceptible group for the effect of passive smoke because their bronchial tubes are smaller and their immune systems are less developed. They also breathe faster and thus take in more harmful chemicals per kilogram of body weight than adults. Also, it has been shown dose–response relationships between the extent of smoking by parents and the salivary or plasma Cotinine level in children, therefore, the purpose of this review is to summaries the results of various epidemiological studies, and to determine if the Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) affects the development of dental caries in children