The 35th World No-Tobacco Day was celebrated on 31 May 2022 to promote the concept of non-smoking. Medical research has shown that smoking is an important contributing factor to many diseases such as cardiovascular, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer. 30% of cancers are caused by smoking, smoking has become the second “global health killer” after high blood pressure. What’s more important, smoking is also extremely harmful to oral health.
The mouth is the gateway to the human body and it’s not immune to the harmful effects of smoking. Not only can smoking cause bad breath and periodontal disease, it’s also an important cause of oral cancer and oral mucosal disease, seriously affecting oral health and daily life.
• Tooth Staining
Smoking tends to stain the teeth black or yellow, especially the lingual side of the lower front teeth, it is not easy to brush off, whenever you open your mouth and smile, you have to reveal black teeth, which affects the beauty.
• Periodontal Disease
Studies have found that periodontal disease is significantly increased by smoking more than 10 cigarettes a day. Smoking forms tartar and the harmful substances in tobacco can cause redness and swelling of the gums and accelerated the formation of periodontal pockets, which can lead to loose teeth. Chemical irritation from cigarettes can cause patients to develop necrotizing and ulcerative gingivitis. Therefore such calculus should be removed promptly after stopping smoking, then you have to do dental cleaning.
Of those with severe periodontal disease, 80% are smokers, and smokers have up to three times to get periodontal disease compared to non-smokers and lose about two more teeth than non-smokers. Although smoking is not the underlying cause of periodontal disease, it is an important contributor.
• White Spots on the Oral Mucosa
The ingredients contained in cigarettes can damage the mouth. It reduces the amount of immunoglobulins in the saliva, leading to a decrease in resistance. It has been reported that 14% of smokers are going to develop oral leukoplakia, which in turn can lead to oral cancer in 4% of smokers with oral leukoplakia.
• Electronic Cigarettes Are Also Harmful
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, found from cellular experiments that e-cigarettes can produce a number of toxic substances and nanoparticle vapourisation that caused the death of 85% of the cells in the experiments. The researchers say that these substances produced by e-cigarettes can kill cells in the surface layer of the skin of the mouth.
Post time: Aug-17-2022