Oral Health and Tobacco

What Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Can Do to Your Teeth

Cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars, and other tobacco products have many warning labels informing consumers of all of the negative side effects these products can have on their health. In addition to the normal risks, such as heart disease and lung cancer, tobacco products can also have a very negative impact on our oral health. Smoking or using chewing tobacco has a number or risk factors including mouth and throat cancer, receding gums, gum disease, and tooth decay.

For those who do smoke or use chewing tobacco, they may be wondering what they can do to mitigate the risk to their oral health. The truth is the best thing you can do for your smile is to quit using tobacco products. Not only will quitting reduce the risk of different oral issues, it will also reduce your risk of suffering from the number of other health problems that tobacco products are known to cause that can lead to large medical problems, including death.

Smoking and Your Oral Health

When someone smokes a cigarette, they are very aware of what that product is doing to their lungs and heart but may not fully understand the damage they are doing to their teeth and mouth. The smoke produced by cigarettes contains over 4,500 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. As the individual inhales, the smoke lingers in their mouth before being inhaled into the lungs – imagine all of those harmful chemicals coming into contact with your teeth and gums and the damage being done.

Smokeless Tobacco and Your Oral Health

In some cases, individuals quit smoking but take up using smokeless tobacco as a “safer” alternative to cigarettes – this is simply not the case. The way smokeless tobacco works is by sitting in the mouth along the gum line and all the chemicals that make chewing or smokeless tobacco addicting can greatly irritate the gums, which can cause them to pull away from the teeth and cause a receding gum line. Additionally, chewing tobaccos can cause bad breath, yellows teeth, and dulls the sense of taste.

What may be shocking to some chewing tobacco users is that they are 50 times more likely to contract oral cancer than those who smoke traditional cigarettes. Smokeless tobacco users often develop cancer in the area where they most place their tobacco and no amount of brushing or flossing will be able to undo the damage chewing tobacco causes. In order to keep your teeth and smile healthy and looking good, the best thing you can do is quit using those tobacco products completely.

If you currently use tobacco products, you should see your dentist regularly. If you have not been to the dentist because you do not have coverage, consider an alternative dental insurance plan such as the Wellness Dental Plan. New Hampshire residents can save as much as 20 percent off their dental bills! For more information about this coverage, please click here.

*Photo Courtesy of Rex Hammock via Creative Commons License