Ways smoking is bad for your oral health

The World Health Organization (WHO) have created World No Tobacco Day to encourage users to give up once and for all. It’s on the 31st of May of each year. In case you missed it, it’s not too late to realise the devastating effects tobacco products can have on your oral and overall health and quality of life:

1. Teeth stains

Tobacco is one of the worst culprits for stained teeth. The nicotine and tar found in cigarettes stain not only your teeth but also your hands and your home!

Did you know?

Veneers and crowns are just as prone to staining from tobacco as your own teeth
The outer layer of your teeth could turn yellow or sometimes even a shade of brown
A whitening treatment can help, but obviously, this will only help if you stop using tobacco.

2. Bad breath

Bad breath doesn’t just smell unpleasant, the bacteria build-up responsible for the smell can actually attack your teeth.

Therefore, if you are a tobacco user you must:

brush and floss regularly
rinse regularly with mouthwash
regularly brush or use a tongue scraper to clean the tongue
ideally, quit tobacco usage entirely

3. Gum disease

If you are inflicted with gum disease, your gums become inflamed, infected, and may bleed when you brush. Without seeking proper dental treatment, your gums and tissue around your teeth can become irritated and eventually recede away from the teeth. The bacteria found in tooth plaque is most often what causes the infection but tobacco is often a likely source too.

Smokers who smoke 1.5 packs of cigarettes per day are 6 times more likely than non-smokers to have periodontal disease
Smoking can inhibit blood vessel growth, which slows the healing process of damaged gums
It takes 11 years for smokers who quit smoking to return their risk of gum disease to that of a non-smoker. Start now!

4. Oral cancer

The link between lung cancer and smokers is well established. But perhaps less commonly understood is that oral cancer is also found in both smokers and those who chew tobacco.

The chemicals found in tobacco are carcinogenic by any route. Your oral tissues are therefore exposed to the damaging chemicals when smoked or chewed, and then the cells in your oral tissue mutating is what causes tumours

Oral cancer usually appears on the tongue, lower lip or floor of your mouth and often presents as a mouth sore that won’t heal.

After 10 to 20 years of quitting tobacco products, the risk decreases to almost the same of someone who has never smoked

5. Delayed healing

The body is ordinarily very good at using its immune system to heal itself. However, to do this, the body needs a good flow of blood and oxygen. Obviously, smoking slows down blood flow throughout the oral cavity and thus, delays the healing process. Due to this, simple dental procedures become more complicated: