Introduction. Smoking has a significant influence on oral health. There are many scientific reports about the negative effects of nicotine on oral mucosa conditions and diseases such as black hairy tongue, leukoplakia, oral cancer and nicotine stomatitis. Aim. An analysis of the frequency of oral mucosa diseases and tobacco smoking in the population of northern Poland. Material and methods. The medical history of 15154 patients from the Department of Periodontology and Oral Mucosa Diseases at the Medical University of Gdansk were analysed, with 5179 medical charts of patients who were suffering from oral mucosa diseases and abnormalities being selected. The research group included 3310 women and 1869 men. Results. In a group of 5179 patients with oral mucosa diseases, 1931 (37.3%) were smokers (1214 females – 36.7% and 717 males – 38.4%). Nicotine stomatitis was only noticed in the group of smokers. In this group a high percentage of oral cancer (91% of patients), leukoplakia (83%) and black hairy tongue (79%) was observed. About half of smoking patients had oral candidiasis. Other diseases such as lichen planus and Burning Mouth Syndrome were observed in 18.25%. Conclusions. Smoking was a major risk factor among patients with leukoplakia and oral cancers. The coincidence between smoking and oral candidiasis as well as smoking and black hairy tongue was proved.

Key words: tobacco smoking, oral mucosa diseases, epidemiology.