Meta: Smoking cigarettes is dangerous to your oral health, too.
Smoking cigarettes is dangerous. There is no denying that. It can increase your risk of oral cancer, throat cancer, and stomach cancer, just to name a few. It can also worsen conditions like heart disease and diabetes, not to mention the toll it takes on your oral health.
When you think of smoking and oral health, you likely think of bad breath, but that only scratches the surface of what smoking can do to harm your oral health. Here are some of the dangers of smoking, and the major reasons to quit.
STAINED TEETH
Stained teeth may not seem like a big deal. After all, that’s what teeth whitening kits are for, right? Unfortunately, whitening your teeth may not work if you smoke, because the stains go deeper than the surface layer of enamel. Worse yet, if you continue to smoke after getting your teeth whitened, you’ll just put all those stains right back!
GUM DISEASE
Believe it or not, even if you take excellent care of your teeth you can still get gum disease from smoking. That’s because gum tissue can become inflamed, allowing harmful bacteria to infiltrate the gums. This can cause pain, redness, swelling, loss of teeth, and the need for surgery and deep gum cleaning at your next dentist appointment. Smoking can also make it more difficult to fight infections, so if you do get gum disease your body may struggle to ward it off.
CAVITIES
Smoking can cause many problems in the mouth, such as cavities, due to it causing dry mouth, which happens when there is a lack of saliva in the mouth. This makes it harder for good bacteria to take control, and for saliva to wash away food particles, bad bacteria, and plaque.
ORAL CANCER
Smoking causes oral cancer, which can be deadly. The best way to reduce your risk of oral cancer is to never start smoking, or to quit as soon as possible.
If you are unsure how to begin the process of quitting smoking, speak to your physician about beginning a smoking cessation program. There are many options available today, and though the process may be challenging at times, the rewards to your health are worth it.
To schedule an appointment with Dentist in San Diego CADr. Abelar, please contact the office today!
