Quantitative exfoliative cytology of normal buccal mucosa: effect of smoking.

The effect of cigarette smoking on the oral mucosa was assessed through the application of quantitative cytomorphometric analysis to smears obtained from clinically normal buccal mucosa. The nuclear (NA) and cytoplasmic (CA) area of cells within each smear were measured using a Vids V semi-automatic image analysis system. Mean values for NA (smokers--78.74 microns 2, non-smokers--72.28 microns 2 and for CA (smokers--3273.9 microns 2, non-smokers--3098.96 microns 2) were obtained. A two-sample t-test revealed a significant elevation in NA for smokers, but no significant variation in CA between the two groups. These results would suggest that for normal buccal mucosa smoking does appear to influence cytomorphology.