Smoking : Its effects on oral health

Smoking tobacco is a common practice world wide. Smoking habit is hard to break because of highly addictive nicotine present in tobacco smoke. Smoking has adverse effects on oral health.

    Smoking : Its effects on oral health

1. Tooth discoloration due to the deposition of tar.
2. Bad breath
3. Gums loose their attachment from the teeth.
4. Increased loss of bone supporting the teeth.
5. Increased tooth loss.
6. Decreased bleeding of gums in spite of its increased destruction. This is due to decrease in the number of blood vessels supplying the gums.
7. Healing gets impaired. That is why smoking has to be stopped for at least 4-5 days after tooth extraction, otherwise the site of extraction does not heal and gets infected (dry socket).
8. Decreased response to scaling, root planning and other dental therapies.
9. Treatments has to be repeated again and again.
10. Lower success rate of dental implants.
11. Increased risk of white patches (leukoplakia) in the oral cavity.
12. Increased risk of developing oral cancers.

Apart from the effects of smoking on the oral health, other diseases include cancer of lungs, larynx, pharynx, esophagus,bladder, uterine cervix and pancreas, heart diseases, stroke, gastric ulcers, increased risk of osteoporosis.
People should be encouraged to quit smoking and having a healthy life.


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