Smoking is one of the bad habits that affect your oral health and general well-being. Dentists have consistently campaigned against smoking and encouraged those who smoke to try their best to quit the habit. Campaigns against smoking encourage many people to stop or steer clear of the habit, especially young people. It is because smoking affects your general health in several ways. Understanding what makes smoking bad for you and its impact on your teeth is crucial if you are still struggling with the habit. This article will teach you how smoking affects your teeth, gums, lungs, and general health. Talk to a skilled dentist for more information and help with oral health matters.
What Smoking Does to Your Teeth
Everyone is born with strong, healthy, and beautiful teeth. But over time, your teeth change due to a lack of proper care and some habits that eventually damage natural teeth. Hundreds of people visit dentists monthly, seeking help with dental or oral health matters. One person’s struggle with oral health is sometimes different and other times the same as the other ones. Dentists analyze common oral and dental issues people face to develop strategies to help them enjoy better oral health. One of the habits that dentists have realized is a leading cause of severe oral and dental issues is smoking. Smoking also impacts your general well-being. Here are some examples of how smoking affects your teeth and general health:
Smoking Causes Tooth Discoloration
Natural teeth are white and beautiful. They give you a beautiful smile. Even though not everyone has pearly white teeth, all-natural teeth are perfect in health and color. Tooth discoloration is a problem that many people experience, especially those who smoke or consume tobacco in any other way. Consumption of tobacco starts in the mouth, and so the mouth is more highly impacted by the effects of tobacco than other parts of the body. Additionally, you will notice changes in your mouth before changes in other parts of the body once you start smoking.
The first change you notice after smoking for a while is the change in the natural color of your teeth. Your once-beautiful teeth will start discoloring. You can no longer smile and socialize with confidence like you did before. Discoloration extends to your gums, giving you a different look and feel from what you initially had.
The natural teeth' enamel, or outer part, is solid. It protects your teeth and their underlying structures. But the enamel has fine cracks that slowly absorb everything you put in the mouth. When you consume tobacco, the tar and nicotine in the tobacco seep into these fine cracks and become fixated there. These are difficult to brush away. You end up with stained teeth even if you practice good oral hygiene.
The buildup from tar and nicotine changes the look of your teeth, affecting your smile and confidence. It also puts your teeth at risk of cavities and gum disease. Teeth whitening can help with stained teeth. But it is counterproductive if you continue smoking after teeth whitening.
Smoking Delays the Healing Process
Dentists recommend daily good oral habits to keep your teeth and gums healthy and functional. These habits include brushing after every meal or twice daily and flossing to remove any stuck food particles in the teeth. Maintaining good oral habits can help you avoid some dental and oral issues people experience, including cavities and gum disease.
However, some oral and dental problems are inevitable, like accidents resulting in tooth damage or loss. Accidents are common in sports, at home, and on the roads. You will need dental care when an accident affects your teeth, mouth, gums, or jawbone. Sadly, that could be a problem if you are in the habit of smoking.
Smoking reduces oxygen in the bloodstream, making it a problem to heal quickly after a dental treatment. For example, if you underwent a tooth extraction or a surgical treatment to replace a missing or severely damaged tooth, it could take you a longer time to heal than it would take a non-smoker. If you experience dental or oral problems that require treatment, like the installation of dental implants or root canal therapy, you will heal more slowly, which is not good.
When a surgical treatment takes longer to heal, it puts you at risk of an infection. Also, there is no guarantee that you will ever heal properly. That is why it is a good idea to quit smoking.
Smoking Increases Your Risk of Gum Disease
Gum disease is a severe oral health condition that affects your gums, teeth, jawbone, and general health. Gum disease starts in the gums, where buildup starts once the bacteria in your mouth reacts with stuck food particles in your mouth. It can occur for several reasons, including poor oral hygiene habits. If you fail to brush your teeth as regularly as you should or floss in between them, the remaining food particles in your mouth can cause buildup on your gums, which causes inflammation and, eventually, infections.
Inflamed gums will be painful and can bleed with every touch, making it difficult to eat or brush your teeth. If the disease is not treated at its onset, it can spread to your gum’s underlying structures, resulting in deeper gum pockets and loose teeth. Your teeth become wobbly and can start falling off. The infection can spread to other body parts through the bloodstream, impacting your general health.
Gum disease is a leading cause of tooth loss among adults, and smoking is a major contributing factor. The disease progresses quickly in chronic tobacco users. Remember that smoking causes buildup on your gums and teeth. That is what puts you at risk of gum disease. The condition worsens with every cigarette you smoke. In addition to loosening your teeth, gum disease affects the strength and stability of your dental restorations, like implants.
Smoking Worsens Gum Disease
If your dentist diagnoses you with gum disease, they will advise you to quit smoking to improve your health and promote your healing. If that does not happen, smoking can worsen your condition, causing the disease to spread faster and wider to other parts of your mouth and body.
Gum disease starts slowly, with traces of buildup here and there. You must take action immediately when you notice a buildup in your mouth. Some people ignore the disease, even after their gums become sore, painful, and inflamed. Smoking can worsen the condition from one day to the next, prompting you to receive intensive and costly treatment. Remember that anyone can have gum disease, even non-smokers. Smoking only increases your risk and worsens your condition over a short period of time.
When you continue to smoke after acquiring the disease, the buildup and bacteria spread more quickly in your mouth, gums, and beneath your gums. The inflammation worsens quickly, and you notice more blood when you eat or brush your teeth. Before you notice it, you already have periodontitis, where the inner layers of your gums and bones start separating from your teeth. The gum pockets become wider, accumulating more food particles and dangerous bacteria. You eventually suffer a severe infection that affects your overall health.
Remember that smoking reduces oxygen in your blood. That affects your immune system, which is necessary to fight infections and severe conditions like gum disease. When your immune system is compromised, infections spread faster to other body parts.
Deeper gum pockets affect how your gums and bones hold your teeth in position. Our teeth can shift in place and eventually start falling off. The spreading bacteria can go deep into the bone and connective tissues. Once the connective tissues are impacted, your teeth lose the anchor that keeps them in position. That is why dentists believe that smoking is a leading cause of tooth loss. While smoking does not cause cavities, it decays everything that holds your natural teeth to the jaw.
Smoking Causes a Dry Mouth
Your mouth is not meant to be dry. The saliva keeps the mouth wet for a good reason. The mouth creates saliva daily to manage the bacteria in the mouth. Oral bacteria protect the mouth and teeth from diseases and conditions like cavities. But it must remain in an equilibrium state, which, if affected, can result in severe conditions. Smoking causes an imbalance in that equilibrium by causing dryness, which is crucial for good bacteria to survive in the mouth. The reduced saliva due to smoking causes problems in the mouth, like tooth decay.
With every cigarette you smoke daily, some saliva becomes dry. Your body needs to work harder than usual to replace the dried saliva. That could be the start of your oral and general health problems. The more you smoke, the harder it becomes for your body to keep up. You will likely experience more oral health issues because your mouth does not have as much saliva as it needs for normal functioning. Common problems resulting from a dry mouth include cavities, discolored teeth, sensitivity, inflammation of the gums, and oral cancer.
Smoking Causes a Bad Breath
A bad breath affects how you interact with others, regardless of how close they are to you. It affects your socialization and confidence. Bad breath can be due to several reasons, one of which is smoking.
To begin with, the smell of cigarettes is unpleasant and can be a significant turn-off for people you want to interact with. The smell lingers in your mouth, giving you the stale smell of cigarettes. Since no one wants to be close to someone with a smell like that, it will affect your confidence and feelings about yourself.
Remember that smoking dries out your mouth, causing an imbalance that results in halitosis. Saliva protects your mouth from so many issues, including halitosis. When your mouth becomes drier than it should, you are at risk of suffering from some of these issues.
Smoking could also result in gum disease, one of the leading reasons for bad breath. When your gums become inflamed or infected, they develop an unpleasant smell and taste that affects how you feel about yourself.
Smoking Increases Your Risk of Oral Cancer
Oral cancer is another serious condition that could result from continued use of tobacco products like cigars, cigarettes, snuff, chewing tobacco, and pipe tobacco. It is because these products contain the following:
- Poisonous substances and toxins.
- Carcinogens or cancer-causing agents.
- Addictive substrates like nicotine.
All tobacco products increase your risk of cancer. Cigarette smoking, which is the most common use of tobacco, is a leading cause of oral cancer. It can put you at risk of acquiring the disease or worsening your condition after your oral cancer diagnosis. Not smoking or quitting the habit is a sure way to remain in good health and improve your healing after oral cancer.
Oral cancer is a general term that refers to any type of cancer that develops in the mouth. The disease can occur in the tongue, lips, gum, roof of the mouth, inner lining of your cheeks, or under the tongue. Its sigma and symptoms vary from one patient to the next and could include the following:
- Pain or difficulty swallowing.
- A mouth or lip sore that does not heal.
- Loose teeth.
- Pain anywhere in the mouth.
- A lump or growth in the mouth.
- A whitish or reddish patch in the mouth.
It is advisable to see a dentist immediately after you notice the first signs of the disease. Oral cancer can spread pretty fast if left untreated.
Find a Skilled Dentist Near Me
Smoking is terrible for your teeth and general health. Dentists always advise their patients not to smoke or to quit smoking to enjoy better oral health and well-being. Smoking puts you at risk of severe oral conditions like cavities, gum disease, and oral cancer. It also affects your recovery after dental treatment. If you are struggling with the use of tobacco in Encino, it is advisable to speak to a skilled dentist for information and guidance so that you can make an informed decision.
We offer a wide range of dental and oral treatments at Lasting Impressions Dental Spa for the whole family. Thus, we could have the information you need to improve your oral and general health. Call us at 818-751-5100 to learn more about the adverse effects of smoking and other unhealthy habits that could impact your oral health.
