We have seen these signs almost everywhere we go. People who smoke regularly are not hidden from this fact but still, they indulge in this life-threatening activity. Apart from health issues, smoking is also a major contributor to your dental problems.
Have you ever noticed that the area around the lips of a non-smoking person is brighter and looks healthier than someone who smokes regularly?
There is one such element that wreaks havoc inside the mouth of a smoker and that is tobacco. Tobacco is a tooth draining agent. It causes bad breath, yellow teeth, and bad breath. Moreover, smoking for a long time also reduces your ability to recover from an injury, disease or surgery.
Lastly, cigarettes are responsible for the buildup of plaque and bacteria in your mouth. A higher concentration of both these elements in your mouth leads to the incidence of several oral problems.
Tooth Staining:
Yellow teeth mean that continuous smoking has deteriorated the teeth’s health. This is due to the presence of tobacco in the cigarettes which sticks to the teeth and leads to discoloration. The teeth whitening treatments can only work if one would quit smoking otherwise the discoloration would bounce back in no time.
Bad Breath:
Just as the essence of sugars remain in your mouth after you have eaten something sweet, several miniscule particles of a cigarette stick to the teeth enamel. Due to this, your mouth will start producing a foul smell.
You may brush your teeth twice a day and floss them three times but a continuous existence of these particles and bacteria has developed further problems. This includes oral sores, weakened gums, diseases, and tooth decay. Only after you have quit smoking, you can get a successful oral treatment.
Gum Disease:
There are studies that point to the fact that people who smoke are more prone to invite a gum disease than the non-smoking ones. Every subsequent cigarette in your mouth is contributing to an increase in your dental problems.
Continuous is akin to lowering your mouth’s protective shield and due to this, all types of bacteria will start to accumulate. Gradually they will reach the gums and weaken the whole structure, in turn, exposing your inner jaw bone structure. Smoking regularly can also lead to the onslaught of Periodontitis. A disease whereby bone and tissues deteriorate and the end result is loss of teeth and tooth extraction.
Delayed Healing:
Body healing is a natural process and one major contributor to this process is oxygen. Cigarette smoking becomes a catalyst for causing issues in the respiratory and cardiovascular system of the body. And these two systems are the main carriers of oxygen throughout the body. Hence, by continuous smoking, you are restricting oxygen to travel through the body and enhance the healing process. Until and unless the patient stops smoking, any dentist cannot help with the healing process efficiently.
Oral Cancer:
This is what it can lead to if you do not quit smoking. Oral Cancer is the most common and most dreaded health issues due to smoking. Initially you may notice a white or red spot in the mouth, further, there are issues with chewing, swallowing, earaches, and jaw numbness. However, there is a cure for all these symptoms but the important thing is that cancer is detected on time and the treatment is facilitated accordingly.
Contact Us if you would like to talk to our Doctor about your Oral health.
