What are the consequences of tobacco on oral health?

Tobacco is bad for your health in general and for your oral health in particular. It does not only stain your teeth, because its deleterious consequences are unfortunately multiple. Nutrident returns in detail on these effects.

It has been known for a few decades now that tobacco is very bad for your health. It causes lung disease and cancer, but its localized action in the mouth is even more devastating to the teeth, tongue and gums.

Bad Breath

Tobacco is the cause of halitosis – bad breath – for two reasons. The first is directly related to the impact of the more than four thousand chemicals contained in cigarettes that you inhale with each puff.

Residue settles and builds up inside your mouth, as well as in your lungs. You exhale a loaded air that smells bad.

The second reason for bad breath is that smoking dries out the mouth. The saliva is insufficient to do its job of permanent cleaning and bad bacteria proliferate.

The alteration of taste and smell

Cigarettes have a significant impact on the way you perceive tastes and smells. It alters your sensations and your taste buds are less satisfied if you are a smoker. Smokers are more likely to add salt or sugar to their food because they find it tasteless. A bad habit that leads to clogged arteries and weight gain.

Cigarettes influence your mouth, but also your nose, which prevents you from smelling the odors, at the same time as you lose the taste. This phenomenon is fortunately reversible. When you quit smoking, you regain your senses fairly quickly.

Stained teeth

Smokers are easily recognized by their stained teeth. Tar and nicotine leave yellow marks on your teeth, which turn brown if you don't have them removed by the dentist.

These staining agents get into every nook and cranny of your tooth enamel.

No matter how diligently you brush your teeth and how many deep cleanings you get from your dentist, your teeth will still have unsightly yellow marks.

A temporary solution is to use an at-home teeth whitening kit, such as the smile avenue kit, before or after the dentist's visit for a thorough whitening.

Cavities

Beyond the stains and black patches on the teeth, smokers have three times more cavities than non-smokers, because the products contained in the smoke promote the formation of dental plaque.

Gum disease

The increased plaque from smoking is harmful to the gums. On the other hand, nicotine modifies the vascularization of the gums, while smoking generally lowers the level of oxygen in the blood, which reduces the capacity for healing.

As a result, the gums become infected more easily and the body is less able to fight infection.

Smokers therefore develop more gum disease and have a lower success rate in implantology.

Oral cancer and tongue cancer

All parts of the mouth are impacted by the effects of tobacco. If lung cancer is the most well-known disease of smokers, oral cancers are not left behind.

Smokers develop cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums, lips and throat.

The risk of cancer is further increased if you tend to drink alcohol. The synergy between the two products is formidable. Note that this type of cancer is still very poorly treated and is often fatal.

Tooth loosening

Smoking is swallowing smoke from burning tobacco. When you inhale a puff, an intense heat is formed and spreads in the mouth. It has the effect of slightly cooking the entire inside of your mouth, which is disastrous for the tissues.

It is the whole periodontium that is weakened, the bones, ligaments and gums that are essential to maintain the teeth in their cavity do their job less well.

Combined with decreased vascularity,poor immunity, plaque formation and cavities, teeth begin to shift and may even become loose.

Conclusion

The only way to avoid all these risks is to stop smoking. Smoking light cigarettes is just a lure that doesn't make it any less dangerous. Tobacco addiction is extremely powerful and there are many ways to get help.

This will allow you to regain good oral health and save money.

Following this article on tobacco, we recommend consulting our opinion on teeth whitening, or our opinion on home dental scaling kits, or our article on electronic cigarettes.