Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Winter;7(1):1-6.

Influence of Khat Chewing on Periodontal Tissues and Oral Hygiene Status among Yemenis

Abdulwahab I Al-Kholani  1
Affiliations

Influence of Khat Chewing on Periodontal Tissues and Oral Hygiene Status among Yemenis

Abdulwahab I Al-Kholani. Dent Res J (Isfahan). 2010 Winter.

Abstract

Background: Khat chewing is popular among Yemenis. This study was performed to investigate the effects of khat chewing on periodontal tissue and oral hygiene status.

Methods: A total of 730 subjects (336 chewers and 394 non-chewers with a mean age of 31.5 ± 0.8 and 29.4 ± 0.9 years, respectively) were involved. Clinical data on periodontal tissues, oral hygiene sta-tus, gingival bleeding, burning sensation in the soft tissues, halitosis, ulcers in the oral cavity, difficulty in opening the mouth and swallowing solid food were collected to evaluate periodontal condition. Lo-gistic regression analysis, student t test and chi-squared test were employed according to which hypo-theses were being tested.

Results: The oral hygiene status of non-chewers was significantly better than that of chewers. The mean oral hygiene index of chewers was 2.12 ± 0.86 while that of non-chewers was 1.54 ± 1.12, the difference being statistically significant (P < 0.001). The incidence of gingival bleeding was signifi-cantly higher in khat-chewers. About 23% of chewers complained of difficulty in mouth-opening, as compared with only about 1% of non-chewers. Furthermore, 10% of chewers had difficulty in swal-lowing solid food. A burning sensation in the soft tissues was also found in a higher proportion of khat-chewers. Similarly, ulcers on the oral mucosa were present in about 7% of chewers, as com-pared to 0.5% of non-chewers. Gingival recession was present in about 51% and 26% of chewers and non-chewers, respectively.

Conclusion: There does appear to be a relationship between the effect of chewing khat on peri-odontal tissue and oral hygiene status.

Keywords: Chewers; Gingival Hemorrhage; Khat; Oral hygiene; Yemen.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Weir S. London: British Museum Publications; 1985. Qat in Yemen: consumption and social change.
    1. Nencini P, Grassi MC, Botan AA, Asseyr AF, Paroli E. Khat chewing spread to the Somali community in Rome. Drug Alcohol Depend. 1989;23(3):255–8. - PubMed
    1. Kalix P. Khat: scientific knowledge and policy issues. Br J Addict. 1987;82(1):47–53. - PubMed
    1. Kalix P. Leaf of Allah: Khat & agricultural transformation in Harerge. In: Gebissa E, editor. The pharmacology of khat. Ohio: Ohio State University Press; 2004. pp. 69–73.
    1. Mekasha A. Proceedings of the International Symposium on khat. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: 1984. Dec 15, Clinical aspects of khat (Catha edulis forsk) pp. 77–83.

LinkOut - more resources