How does smoking impact my mouth and oral health?

Smoking can impact your overall oral health in number of ways, including:

  • Reducing blood flow and the supply of vitals nutrients to your gums, including vitamin C. Without proper nutrients, you can develop gum disease, bone loss and even tooth loss.
  • Decreasing the amount of saliva that flows through your mouth. Saliva is important for cleaning your mouth and preventing tooth decay.
  • Affecting the appearance of your teeth, making them discolored with yellow and brown stains that nicotine leave behind.
  • Causing inflammation of the roof of your mouth
  • Giving you bad breath
  • Causing you to lose your dense of taste.
  • Most important smoking cause oral cancer.

Oral cancer is the sixt most common cancer, accounting for nearly 5 percent of all cases.

If you are a smoker it’s never too late to quit. Research has shown that quitting at any age will improve your health and increase your longevity. Talk to our dentists or other health care providers for more information how to quit.