Four ways smoking affects your oral health:
✔️ Creates plaque and tartar: Chemicals in tobacco products affect saliva flow in mouth, making it easier for oral bacteria to stick to teeth and gums. Smokers are more likely to develop gum diseases or periodontal disease, which can attack the bone and lead to tooth loss.
✔️ Interferes with blood circulation: Smoking affects the normal function of gum tissue, causing infections and restricting blood flow. It also delays healing after dental implants, tooth extraction, and treatment of gum disease.
✔️Leads to oral cancer: About 90% of people diagnoses with cancer of the mouth, throat, or lips used tobacco. Smokers are six times more likely to develop oral cancers.
✔️ Changes teeth and breath: Smoking can stain teeth various colors including yellow, brown, black. Smoking also causes (halitosis) bad breath.
Treatment solutions:
If you smoke or use tobacco products, reduce the risk of oral health problems by brushing twice daily, after breakfast and before bedtime, and floss once each day. Schedule regular appointments, as directed by your dentist, for professional teeth cleanings and checkups. If possible, quit smoking or at least cut down. Research shows that smokers who cut back to less than half a pack a day only had three times the risk for developing gum disease as nonsmokers.
