Introduction –
The prevalance of tobacco in smokeless form is globally spreaded from Sudan and India to scandinavia and USA.1 Among all the forms of smokeless tobacco product (STPs), the snuff is widely used and its more prevailing among the youth.
The use of snuff is based on mechanism that the product directly release nicotine when it is placed in the vestibule between gum and cheek.2 The intake of snuff is very popular in North America, Scandinavia and in some parts of Asia (i.e Bangladesh, Bhutan, India) also in some parts of Africa (e.g Algeria, Sudan,and Nigeria). The snuff is manifestated in two ways ; the loose form and another form in which it is packed in small filter sachets or pouches. The pouch form has gained a lot of popularity in recent times. These pouches are inserted in the vestibule for a duration of approximately 30 minutes resulting in nicotene absorption and then disposed.3 The use of snuff results in dependency due to release of high dosage of nicotine.4 The composition of snuff includes water, tobacco,moist preservatives,taste enhancers(salt) acidifiers and aromas. The tobacco itself is composed of 2500 chemical components in which nicotine is most common, the other components are sodium carbonate, sodiumchloride,TSNA (tobacco specific nitrosamines) and PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)5. The nicotine absorption takes place through mucous membrane by passive diffusion.
One factor that is considered critical for passive diffusion of many drug compounds is the proportion of drug present in the un-ionized or uncharged form.
Un-ionized drugs undergo passive diffusion much more readily than their corresponding ionized forms because of the greater solubility of uncharged molecules in lipophilic cellular membranes. The proportion of drug present in the un-ionized form is determined by the dissociation constant of the drug and the pH of the medium in which the drug is found. This results in a pH dependence for the absorption of many drugs across the oral mucosa and forms the basis for affecting drug delivery via manipulation of the oral pH.7 The nicotine absorption through mucous membrane is directly proportional to pH, so the snuff is buffered to pH of 8-9 by adding sodium carbonate.8 The nicotine dosage in snuff is dependant on the ph level ,amount of nicotine in the product,and size of tobacco cutting.2 Some studies have examined the correlation smokeless tobacco/moist snuff product pH and nicotine absorption ,however we are aware of no studies in which the resulting pHs for mixtures of commercial moist snuff and saliva have been determined.10 The pH is directly proportional and plays a very important role in nicotine absorption. Tobacco smoking has a major impact on many tissues and organs of the body, including the periodontal tissues. Hence the objectivity of the present study is to assess the impact of various forms sodium carbonate present in snuff on oral condition among snuff users in jammu, India .
