Smoking’s Impact On Dental Health -Dentists Warnings!
By Space Coast Daily // August 14, 2023
Many people are still unaware of the immediate harm smoking does to their mouths, gums, and teeth, even though it is well-known that smoking poses a major risk to a person’s overall health. This also applies to e-cigarettes and vaping.
A chronic smoking habit is more likely to result in serious gum disease, which affects your immune system and is one of the most common manifestations of oral cancer, aside from aesthetic problems like yellowing or staining teeth. Many dental clinics provide dental implants in 24 hours, which might be necessary if smoking has hampered your teeth.
Smoking’s Negative Effects on Oral Health
- Smoking can weaken the senses of taste and smell and stain teeth. This gradually reduces the enjoyment of food. Less taste sensitivity can promote unhealthy eating practices since extreme flavors, such as those that are sugary or acidic, can seriously harm a person’s teeth.
- Gum disease is a result of smoking. As opposed to non-smokers, smokers have a twofold increased risk of gum disease. The most frequent reason for tooth loss in adults is gum disease.
- Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen in the bloodstream, which makes it more difficult for your gums to heal after dental surgery. As a consequence, many therapies for gum disease are ineffective.
- Smoking impairs immunity, making it more difficult to fend off a gum infection. There can be no turning back once periodontal disease develops from gum disease.
- Smoking is a major contributor to mouth cancer, in addition to causing lung and throat cancer.
- Untreated gum disease will eventually result in tooth loss if it is not treated.
- The only way to treat periodontal disease is to remove all of the natural teeth, which kills the condition at its root.
What Can Be Done to Prevent Gum Disease?
- Every day, brush your teeth twice.
- To remove plaque, floss consistently and every day.
- Visit a dentist for routine examinations and expert cleanings.
- Give up smoking. Set quitting as a top priority. The more harm will be done, the longer you wait.
When Precaution Is Not an Option
We all know that smoking is not the only factor in gum disease. Numerous patients of ours suffer from gum disease that cannot be avoided due to heredity, other illnesses, crowding of the teeth, and frequently from not having received adequate dental hygiene instruction as children. Gum illness should not be something you should be ashamed of, and you do not have to live with it for the rest of your life, regardless of the source.
