The relationship between habitual clove cigarette smoking and a specific pattern of dental decay in male bus drivers in Jakarta, Indonesia.

This study has been conducted to establish the relationship between habitual smoking of clove cigarettes and a specific type of dental decay. A retrospective cohort study of 1,160 bus drivers in Jakarta who smoked clove cigarettes and non-smokers showed that a specific type of decay occurs in terms of form, location and pathology. The prevalence was 55.8%. The type of decay is affected by the number of years of smoking and the number of cigarettes smoked each day. Thirty-two percent of the lesions were on the buccal surfaces of the upper teeth, 39.3% on the buccal surfaces of the lower teeth, and 18% of palatal surfaces were affected. The prevalence of clove cigarette caries was related to years of smoking and numbers of cigarettes smoked per day. Of the men who smoked 10 years or less, 27% had caries. The prevalence increased to 79.6% for those smoking for 11-15 years. For those smoking for more than 15 years the prevalence was 89.3%. The relative risk of those smoking 7-12 cigarettes a day was 2.66 (p<0.0001) compared to those smoking 0-6 cigarettes a day. The relative risk increased to 3.19 in those smoking 13-18 cigarettes and 2.96 (p<0.0001) in men smoking more than 18 cigarettes per day.