[Influence of age, duration of smoking habit and cigarette consumption on keratinization indexes of the oral mucosa].

In order to determine influence of habit of smoking black cigarettes on rhythm of cell maturity of the mucosa of palate and cheeks, cytologic samples of such regions were taken to 52 male individuals, who were smokers since more than five years ago, older than 40 years and who at the time of the clinical examination did not present evidences of any type of lesion. The samples were compared with those from a control group comprising non-smoker individuals, but with the same characteristics. The samples were obtained by scraping cheeks and palate with a wooden spatula, and were fixed with ethyl alcohol and stained by Papanicolaou's technique. Observations were performed at a light microscope. Microscopic fields for cell counting were selected at random. More than 300 cells per patient were evaluated taking into account their morphology and characteristics of staining affinity. Within the studied variables, that of smoking years was the most influencing on modifications of cell keratinization indexes in the buccal mucosa of healthy smokers (p less than 0.05).