The Effect of Cigarette Smoking on the Pain Induced by Elastomeric Separators in Patients Who are Candidate For Orthodontic Treatment

Objectives: Studying the effects of cigarette smoking on the pain induced by elastomeric separators in patients who need orthodontic treatment. Materials and Methods: The research sample consisted of (40) patients, whose ages ranged between (20-27) years, in need of orthodontic treatment by fixed appliance, with a non-extraction treatment plan. The patients were distributed into two groups (smokers and non-smokers), smokers group consisted of patients who smoke more than 20 cigarettes (between 20 to 25) per day. The non-smoker group consisted of patients who never smoke any cigarette during their lifetime. After applying the elastomeric separation, the patients were asked to record their pain severity through a questionnaire, that contains a digital optical scale (VAS) including 0 (0 means no pain) to 10 cm) 10 means the worst possible pain), after)1) hour, (24) hours, and (48) hours and a week of elastomeric separators placement, in both rest and chewing modes, for each time. Mann-Whitney test was used to study the significance of the differences between the average pain amount and the two groups at the significance level of (P = 0.05). Results: 40 patients were evaluated for eligibility. Pain data were statistically analyzed. A statistical significance was found after all assessment points except after 7 days, in both chewing and rest. Conclusion: Cigarette smoking may affect pain levels induced by elastomeric separators.