The relationship of smoking to localized osteitis.

The relationship between smoking and localized osteitis was studied in 200 patients who had 400 mandibular third molars removed. Information on how much patients smoked each day and whether cigaretts, cigars, or a pipe was smoked, as well as the postoperative smoking habits of each patient, was recorded. Results indicated that there is a signficant difference in the incidence of postoperative localized osteitis at extraction sites of mandibular third molars between smokers and nonsmokers; smoking after extraction caused a definite increase in the incidence of localized osteitis.