Confused about the connection between a dentist and a smoker? Let us help you with this confusion.
No doubt you are aware of the negative effects of smoking on your overall health including your teeth. You might least be concerned about the side-effects smoking has on your dental health. Because you smoke from your mouth, you face severe consequences of smoking.
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Effects of smoking on your Oral Health
Before consulting a dentist near you, know the effects of smoking on your oral health.
- Cigarettes are full of harmful chemicals such as tar, nicotine, and other chemicals. As soon as you start smoking, these chemicals come in contact with your mouth and teeth. Your mouth and teeth are most prone to the worst side-effects of cigarettes.
- Smoking can cause yellow stains to appear on your teeth that are difficult to remove.
- The harmful chemicals also damage your protective layer of the enamel which makes your teeth more susceptible to bacteria. These bacteria can eat your teeth and cause tooth rot.
- The bacteria build-up can cause gum diseases causing your gums to recede and affect the stability of your teeth.
- The worst thing smoking can cause is oral cancer. Tobacco smoke contains almost 70,000 chemicals, 70 of which are cancerous.
Apart from affecting your oral health, smoking can cause other complications as well. Smoking increases inflammation thus leading to some severe cardiovascular complications.
Vaping which is considered a healthy alternative to traditional smoking is also bad for your oral health. E-cigarettes with nicotine cartridge reduce blood flow and thus affect your mouth’s ability to fight bacteria. This can result in various gum infections further causing periodontal disease. E-cigarette smoking releases inflammatory proteins in the gum tissue that can lead to critical oral conditions. The flavoring used in E-cigarettes can also cause cellular damage to your mouth. This means vaping and smoking are equally harmful to your mouth and other body organs.
You should start by trying to quit smoking as soon as possible to lessen further damage. However, it is hard to do so but quitting smoking will improve your blood flow within a few days. Within a month of quitting, the production of inflammatory cells will also reduce.
Visit your Dentist for Treatment Options
Before going to your dentist, you may try various toothpaste and mouthwashes available in the market. These products are marketed with claims of repairing the damage done to your mouth and teeth. The toothpaste is made to wash away the yellow stains on your teeth and fight the odor of smoking.
Remember no market product can effectively improve your oral health than quitting smoking at all. These products also cannot fight against gum diseases, tooth rot, and oral cancer.
You will ultimately have to visit your dentist to go through a dental checkup and monitor your oral health. A dentist will give you the best oral healthcare advice and possibly give you the treatment for any oral problems.
Make an appointment with the best dentists in town at Anoka Dental.
