Wichita Dentist – How Does Smoking Affect Your Teeth?
Smoking can cause many oral health issues, including gum disease, tooth discoloration, tooth loss, and even oral cancer.
The nicotine and tar found in cigarettes can turn your teeth yellow fairly rapidly. Long-term use may even turn your teeth brown.
Smoking produces more bacterial plaque and a lack of oxygen in the bloodstream which causes gum disease. Due to the lack of oxygen, the gums of smokers are not capable of healing as quickly as those of non-smokers.
Oral cancer is another risk of smoking. Every year thousands of people die from oral cancer brought on by smoking.
If you’re a smoker, you have twice the risk for gum diseases compared to a non-smoker, and treatments for gum disease may not be as effective for people who smoke. Tobacco use in any form – cigarettes, pipes, and smokeless tobacco – raises your risk for gum disease.
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