When people think of the health consequences of smoking, they usually think of lung diseases – such as lung cancer, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis. However, since cigarette smoke can damage almost every organ in the body, it is not surprising that your oral health can also be affected. Here’s what you need to know about smoking and your oral health to stay healthy. Long-term smoking shortens life expectancy by several years and has many health disadvantages. It increases the risk of many types of cancer – especially lung cancer and malignant mouth and throat tumors. It also makes you more susceptible to infectious diseases such as colds, flu or pneumonia. Over time, it can lead to chronic cough and lung disease.
Reality Check
Whether you smoke cigarettes, cigars, or other tobacco products, there is no healthy level of consumption of tobacco products, even passively. Your risk of tobacco-related diseases, including those affecting your mouth, depends on how long you have been smoking and how many cigarettes you smoke each day.
Oral Cancer
Oral cancer is a gradual mutation of the healthy cells in your mouth. How it is created can vary. Smoking plays a significant role in many of the oral cancer diagnoses that are made each year. A University of California study showed that 8 out of 10 patients with oral cancer are smokers. With every puff on a cigarette, the harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke go first into your mouth and then into your lungs. Prolonged and repeated exposure to these chemicals causes changes in your oral cavity, leading to oral cancer. Nevertheless, the disease can be avoided. By avoiding cigarette smoke and other risky behaviors and by visiting the dentist regularly, you can prevent oral cancer from developing.
Gum Disease
Gum disease is an inflammatory disease of the gums and bone surrounding teeth. They arise from a build-up of harmful bacteria that can lead to tooth loss. Nonetheless, microscopic organisms are not the only reason for gum sickness. Smokers have more than twice the risk of gum disease compared to non-smokers. Smoking impairs the immune system and makes it harder for your body to fight off conditions like gum disease. Gum treatment may be less effective in smokers than in a non-smoker because smoking slows gum healing.
Bad Breath And Discolored Teeth
In addition to the more severe risks of oral cancer and gum disease, smoking can also affect your sense of taste and smell and delay healing after a tooth extraction or other dental procedure. In addition, the tar from cigarette smoke causes discolouration of teeth and bad breath and can lead to discolouration of the tongue. This discolouration can only be removed by professional teeth cleaning.
Take Care Of Oral Hygiene At Home
Nicotine in cigarettes is a profound drug. This is the reason stopping smoking is so troublesome. In any case, if you are a smoker, you ought to stop smoking to work on your general wellbeing. Since stopping smoking is so mind-boggling, the vast majority need backing to do as such. Make sure to tell your dental specialist about your craving to stop smoking. One methodology to quit smoking may be keeping your mouth and teeth as spotless as possible. This is how you give yourself daily impetus to deal with your wellbeing. Regular brushing with fluoride toothpaste and everyday flossing will assist with forestalling tooth rot and gum illness. Now that you know the risks of smoking to oral wellbeing, recall beginning carrying on with a better lifestyle is rarely past the point of no return.
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