Association of marijuana use with oral HPV infection and periodontitis among Hispanic adults: Implications for oral cancer prevention

Abstract

Marijuana use was associated with periodontitis, but not with oral HPV infection. Further evaluation of the role of marijuana use in oral HPV infection and periodontitis may inform novel preventive public health strategies, as marijuana users could be at increased risk of oral cancer.

Is the use of Cannabis associated with periodontitis? A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…All studies included in this systematic review, with the exception of López’ study, presents an elevated prevalence of periodontal disease associated with marijuana use was found. Data related to review question on overall sample in Lopez and Baelum study were not available, once the authors showed a stratified analysis by time of marijuana use and frequency of smoking.…”

“…Overall, 13 491 individuals were included, of which 49.5% were males. The studies were conducted in New Zealand, Chile, Australia, United States of America, and in the Puerto Rico . The design of most studies was cross‐sectional although one was prospective from a birth cohort .…”

“…Different criteria were adopted in the studies. The CDC/AAP (Center for Disease Control and Prevention/American Academy of Periodontology) was used in three studies . The others used the presence of clinical attachment loss ≥3 mm and ≥1 site with attachment loss ≥5 mm .…”

“…The others used the presence of clinical attachment loss ≥3 mm and ≥1 site with attachment loss ≥5 mm . The use of Cannabis was assessed by self‐report with different categorization in relation to frequency of the use: No (“never or only tried it once”) and Yes (“used to smoke, but not any more” or “still smoke sometimes”); Yes (Use marijuana or hashish ≥ once per month for the last 12 months) and No (less than once per month); Lopez and Baelum question the individuals about “Ever use of cannabis” (yes/no) and “Regular use of cannabis” (yes/no); Similarly, Ortiz et al used the self‐report being classified in: no use (never/once in lifetime), occasional use, and frequent use (≥26 times during the lifetime, ≥6 times during the past year, and ≥2 times during the past 30 days); and only Meier et al investigated the Cannabis dependence diagnostic (diagnosed at 1 wave, diagnosed at 2 waves, and diagnosed at 3 or more waves). Regarding to the quality assessment, all studies presented were of high quality (Table ).…”

“…The assessment of Cannabis use was performed using a self‐reported measure. While Shariff et al consider user of Cannabis individuals that used once or more for month (in the last 12 months), Jamieson et al consider have already used or even used and Ortiz et al consider three categorizations (no, occasional and frequent use); only in the study of Meier et al the Persistent Cannabis Dependence following the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria was investigated . These different approaches to measure the use of Cannabis could explain, in part, the variances in the effects observed among the investigated study even as the heterogeneity.…”