Background: Smoking is currently the most preventable cause of diseases and death worldwide and is one of the causative risk factors for developing cancer in different organs. Therefore, smoking patients must be carefully monitored for alterations in buccal mucosa caused by tobacco abuse.
Aim and Objective: The aim of the study is to investigate cytological changes in buccal mucosa cells and establish a correlation with the morphometric analysis of mouth opening among smokers and non-smokers.
Materials and Methods: A comparative study was conducted on 200 individuals aged between 20 and 60 years. The subjects were randomly chosen from inpatients and outpatients of the Medicine Department at Index Medical College and Hospital. Buccal smears of these patients were processed in the Department of Anatomy.
Results: Significant differences were observed between non-smokers and smokers for cells with binucleation, pyknosis, perinuclear halo, cytoplasmic granules, karyolysis, karyorrhexis, and micronuclei in buccal mucosal cells. However, no significant difference was found for cytoplasmic vacuoles between non-smokers and smokers. Similar studies have reported findings consistent with our non-smoking population.
Conclusion: The present study indicates that almost all cytomorphological findings were higher in smokers than in non-smokers. Early detection of oral cancers becomes complex as they are mostly innocuous and asymptomatic during their initial stages. Cytomorphometric analysis can be used regularly to detect these cell alterations.
