Even More Reasons To Quit Smoking
How your oral health benefits when you give up smoking
As you say goodbye to the first month of the year, you may be reflecting on New Year’s resolutions, contemplating whether or not you will continue to stick to the new habits for the rest of 2017.
If quitting smoking is your goal, perhaps you’re struggling to stay on track, or perhaps you haven’t managed to make a quit date yet? If this is you, don’t panic, there is never a bad time to start improving your habits.
With smoking, it is extremely difficult to quit, and many people do fail time and time again before quitting for good. But, it is certainly worth striving to quit this particular habit, because, the bottom line is that it could kill you. There’s so much information on smoking and how it affects your body, and today we are going to give you a basic outline of how it affects your oral health too. Perhaps, these extra bits of information about even more negative effects of smoking, will help you find the willpower to quit for good.
Bad Breath
There are many different reasons smoking causes you to have bad breath. The main reason is the many, many chemicals that cigarettes contain which continue to build up and build up in your mouth. They stick to all areas of the mouth, including your gums, tongue and teeth which then causes classic smokers breath. Other reasons smoking causes bad breath is:
● It provides a more hospitable environment for bacteria to thrive
● It dries out your mouth, which causes stale breath
● It makes you more susceptible to infections which can cause bad breath
● It makes you more susceptible to gum disease
Mints and minty chewing gum can freshen your breath short term, but the only way to get permanent fresh breath is by quitting smoking and practicing good oral hygiene.
Stained Teeth
Smoker’s teeth can be yellowed, brown around the edges, or even black in some places. Smoking contains tar and nicotine which stains the teeth very quickly. Smoker’s toothpaste can help somewhat with keeping the staining at bay, but it won’t prevent it completely.
Plaque & Tartar
Smoking causes you to have more dental plaque, which can in turn lead to cavities and infections.
Gum Disease
Smoking causes you to have more plaque and bacteria in your mouth, as well as less oxygen to the gums. These contributing factors increase your risk of gum disease, which if you get it, is less easy to get rid of if you are a smoker. Gum disease can become severe and lead to infections, tooth loss and even jaw bone loss.
Oral Cancer
The chemical changes that occur in your mouth due to smoking, can put you at an increased risk of oral cancer. Statistics show that over 80% of oral cancer cases in the UK are linked to major lifestyle risk factors, with the main avoidable risk factor being smoking, which is responsible for over 65% of oral cancer cases in the UK.
You Can Do It!
You can quit smoking, Abbey Road Dental believes in you! If you want to quit, you can visit the helpful “Smoke Free” section of the NHS website which gives you lots of information on how to get started with kicking the habit. You could also speak to your GP who will be able to recommend different local programmes that provide support to those quitting smoking.
How Our NW8 Clinic Can Help
We can help you by providing consistent checkups in the meantime, ensuring any potential issues are caught and treated early. We are trained to look for the early signs of smoking risks like gum disease and oral cancer. We also offer various cosmetic dentistry treatments, including tooth whitening, which a lot of smokers treat themselves to after quitting for a certain amount of time. Having your teeth whitened could be the incentive you need to quit for good?
If you would like to register with our St John’s Wood clinic, or book an appointment, please call us on 02076241603 and one of our friendly staff will be more than happy to help you.