How Smoking is Affecting Your Dental Health?

Everyone is aware of smoking being injurious to health. Ask a smoker the risks, and he or she would readily launch into a tirade of potential health hazards.

But not many people know that smoking has a very prominent connection with their oral health as well.

The slow poisoning caused due to smoking has both short and long term consequences, of which poor dental health is one. Here is its impact:

Teeth Discoloration

Your mouth is the most affected organ of the harms caused by smoking. Nicotine present in cigarettes settles over the surface of tooth enamel, leaving a stubborn yellow color. This can be remedied by visiting the dentist and getting an air-polishing treatment. At home, you can use especially medicated toothpaste for smokers.

Plaque formation

Nicotine has been linked with increasing plaque formation activity in your mouth. The bacteria in tartar causes tooth infection, cavities and bad breath. The plaque buildup can be prevented by properly brushing twice a day and flossing your teeth.

Gum Diseases

Smoking is the cause of many gum diseases including Periodontitis, Gingivitis and oral cancer in serious cases. Even if you are not a victim of the above mentioned diseases, your teeth become week at an early age, developing increased sensitivity for hot and cold. Smokers have greater chance of losing their teeth earlier compared to non-smokers.

Difficulty in Dental Treatment

Dental operations such as removing affected teeth and replacing them with implants become more complex and hard to operate. Smoking delays healing after treatment and studies have discovered that there is a direct relation between implants failure and smoking.

Diabetes

Diabetes and oral diseases are indirectly linked, both being aggravated because of smoking. Smokers are 30% to 40% more prone to contracting diabetes compared to non-smokers. Diabetes weakens gums and oral muscles, causing teeth loss, and making oral surgeries more complicated.

Smoking may have some benefits such as stress relief and weight loss, but they are nowhere near the damage smoking causes to your body. It is high time one understands the risk they are posing to their life and health.

If you want to give yourself a second chance to live a happy life and a reason to smile, consider scheduling an appointment with us, your Rockville dental clinic. Our teeth whiteningservices are just the right choice for you!