Smoking is no joke folks! We know it’s hard to quit and that you have heard it all before. Yes, you know it’s bad, and you’re going to quit when you’re ready, or you don’t really smoke that much so it’s not that big of a deal. We know, we know, but it really is a big deal and not to sound too much like your mother but while you enjoy the short-term effects it’s the long-term effects that make us worried. Now you’re probably thinking, I thought I was reading the Smile Warehouse blog. What does smoking have to do with oral health? Unfortunately, more than you know.We know that there have been links between tobacco and cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and strokes. Researchers have also found that tobacco is also a contributing factor to the following oral health care problems:

• Tooth discoloration
• Malodor
• Inflammation of salivary glands
• Plaque and tartar build up
• Bone lose within the jaw
• Leukoplakia (white patches in the mouth)
• Delayed healing in the mouth
• Implant failure
• Increased risk of oral cancer
Now you might be wondering if pipe smoking or chewing tobacco has the same effect. Well, the answer is yes. According to results of a 23-year long study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, cigar smokers experience tooth loss and bone loss (within the jawbone that anchors teeth) equivalent to those of cigarette smokers. Pipe smokers also have a similar risk of tooth loss as cigarette smokers. Smokeless tobacco products contain 28 or more chemicals that have been shown to increase the risk of oral cancer as well as cancer of the throat and esophagus. Chewing tobacco contains higher levels of nicotine than cigarettes, making it harder to quit.
Smoking and other tobacco products cause more than just bad breath. It also leads to gum disease, by affecting the attachment of bone and soft tissue to your teeth. More specifically, smoking interferes with the normal function of gum tissue cells. This makes smokers more susceptible to infections, like periodontal disease, and also seems to impair blood flow to the gums, which may affect the natural healing process of the mouth.
Tobacco products have also been known irritate your gum tissue, causing it to recede or pull away from your teeth. Once the gum tissue recedes, your teeth roots become exposed, and create an increased risk of tooth decay. Exposed roots are also more sensitive to hot and cold or other irritants, making eating and drinking uncomfortable.
Now that you know some of the other problems associated with smoking and other tobacco products we hope that this information might help you on your road to quitting.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 4:21 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.