between the exposure to smoking (packyears) and severity of ED was assessed before the follow-up. The ED status between patients who stopped smoking after NRT and those who continued during the follow-up was then compared before and after the follow-up. RESULTSThe severity of ED correlated significantly with the level of exposure to smoking. Age and ED status before the follow-up were not significantly different between 118 patients who stopped (ex-smokers) and 163 who continued smoking (current smokers). After 1 year the ED status improved in ≥ 25% of exsmokers but in none of the current smokers; 2.5% of ex-smokers and 6.8% of current smokers had a deterioration in ED. Ex-smokers had a significantly better ED status after the follow-up ( P = 0.009). Among ex-smokers, patients with advanced ED and those who were older had less improvement. CONCLUSIONThere is a strong association between the intensity of cigarette smoking and degree of ED. Stopping cigarette smoking can improve ED in a considerable proportion of smokers. Age and the severity of ED before stopping are inversely related to the chance of improvement.

The results of our study showed that one application of silver nitrate can decrease the severity of pain in aphthous ulceration without significantly shortening or prolonging healing time. We did not observe any side-effects in our study. The effect is rapid and lasts for the duration of the lesion. The treatment is simple and cost-effective in patients with infrequent recurrences.

No abstract