Mouth Care Help For Smokers And Ex Smokers

Your oral health will suffer if you smoke. Here’s how our Canterbury dentists can help.

If we could wave a magic wand that would help our patients to quit smoking, we would do so without a second thought. This habit has destroyed many lives and will go on doing so. We all know about the effects it can have on our hearts and lungs, but fewer people seem to be aware of the damage that it can do to your teeth and gums. We can’t force or even help you to stop smoking other than to offer advice where to seek help. What we can do though is to help you maintain a healthier mouth and, once you have stopped smoking, help to restore any damage that has been done.

In today’s blog, the team at Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic explain some of the harm that smoking can cause from an oral health perspective, along with treatments that we have available that can help restore your mouth to good health and repair at least some of the damage done.

Smoking and oral health

There are two main areas where smoking is damaging to oral health. The most serious of these is oral, or mouth, cancer. This can be devastating and can even prove fatal if not treated early enough. This is why we check for possible symptoms during your routine dental checks and may refer you to your GP should we detect anything of concern. Even in the majority of cases, where oral cancer is not fatal, sufferers can suffer from a range of problems including facial disfigurement, difficulty in swallowing and speech impediments.

A more widely common problem created by smoking is a greatly increased risk of gum disease. This can result in teeth becoming loose or even falling out if not treated and managed correctly. Gum disease has also been linked with heart issues and Alzheimer’s amongst other medical problems, so should not be taken lightly.

Oral health maintenance

Maintaining a healthy mouth is important whether you smoke or not, but if you do, then special care and attention should be paid and you should go the extra mile to keep your teeth and gums as healthy as possible. In addition to taking special care to brush and floss your teeth well, you may need to visit the dentist and hygienist at our Canterbury dental clinic more frequently than a non smoker. This is because some problems, and especially gum disease, are likely to worsen much quicker if you smoke, and leaving the usual six months between appointments may allow problems to become potentially serious before they are detected.

Your dentist will advise whether you need routine check ups more frequently but you should almost certainly see the hygienist more regularly, possibly every three months, so that they can professionally clean your teeth with a scale and polish procedure. This is important as it helps to remove hardened bacteria and minerals that collect on the teeth and gum line. This is usually referred to as tartar or calculus. This creates a rough surface that attracts more bacteria which can then attack the gums, and, in the case of advanced gum disease, or periodontitis, the supporting bone too. It is this that can cause wobbly teeth or tooth loss.

If you do this, you should be able to maintain a reasonably healthy mouth, though every effort to quit smoking should be made as this will be hugely beneficial for not only your oral health but your general health too …. and your finances as well, of course!

Benefitting ex smokers

In addition to helping you continue to maintain a healthy mouth, there are a number of treatments we have available that can help to restore any damage done to the teeth while you smoked. In most cases, this probably relates to the colour of your teeth which can be badly affected by the tar in cigarettes, often leaving them discoloured, whether with a yellowish tone or even brown where you have been a heavy smoker.

Some patients may benefit from our fast acting teeth whitening procedure which can improve the colour of your teeth by up to eight shades. This is a non-invasive and affordable treatment that is popular as a first step towards achieving a whiter smile. How effective this will be may depend on how heavily you smoked and we are able to offer advice on this. In some instances, even where we indicate that you might not see the results you hope for, some patients opt to try a teeth whitening procedure anyway and some may be happy with even small improvements.

In many cases, and especially where you have smoked heavily for a significant period of time, the more effective treatment is likely to be the fitting of porcelain teeth veneers. These replace the discoloured front enamel veneer of the tooth with an artificial one made from porcelain. These can be made in any shade that you wish so that you don’t have to go from a dark brown to a brilliant white. There is nothing wrong with this of course, if you so wish, but most patients prefer to make more subtle changes rather than dramatic ones.

It is never too late to stop smoking and we hope that any of you who still do this, find a way to stop. Whether you smoke or not though, the team at Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic are here to help you. If you would like to make an appointment to see the dentist or hygienist, please call our friendly reception team on 01227 463529.