嚼檳榔對口腔的影響

The effects of chewing betel nuts on the mouth

The chewing of betel nuts is the widest spread masticatory habit in the world. It has a history of at least 2000 years, for people have been chewing betel nuts as a masticatory. In the Orient, the number of people having this habit is estimated at over 400 millions. Most of the residents distributed from East coast of Africa along India Ocean to some of the Islands of the Pacific. The components of the betel nut quid may be different in different localities, but the essential components, i.e. the betel nuts, gambir or cutch, P. betle, and lime are always the same. In Taiwan the habit of chewing betel nuts very probably came from Malaysia one thousand years ago. The mouth condition of 280 betel nut chewers and 306 nonchewers were examined. The result shows that the average number of teeth of betel nut chewers was 29.45 and the mean value of the caries number was 5.33. The average number of teeth of non-chewers was 29.47, and the mean value of the caries number was 6.06. There is only slight difference between the caries rate of chewers and nonchewers. These differences are not significant and the preventive effects of chewing betel nut on caries is doubtful. Gingivitis and dento-alveolar abscesses in the mouth of betel nut chewers is much commoner than non-chewers. The attrition of teeth, black stained teeth and increasing amounts of calculus are commoner and severer in betel nut chewers.