It’s not just cigarettes anymore. Tobacco and smoking have found new and insidious ways into everyone’s lives, especially young people. It is pretty much universally known that smoking will yellow your teeth and damage your oral health. Today, let’s take a deeper look at the problems associated with different types of smoking and tobacco use.
Cigarettes
Cigarettes are a nasty habit whether it is a few a day or a few packs a day. They cause immediate social problems with bad breath and stained teeth as well as having long term impacts on your oral health.
Over the years, cigarettes can leave you with cavities, sores and oral cancers. That’s not to mention the myriad of other health problems outside of oral health that cigarettes can cause. If you need help quitting smoking visit Kick It California! They can help you get started down the road to a tobacco free lifestyle today!
Electronic Cigarettes
Electronic cigarettes, also commonly called vaping, uses a small device loaded with cartridges to deliver nicotine. The by-product is a vapor, hence the name vaping. Regulation about these devices and their cartridges vary by state and in many places there are no regulations.
Many e-cigarettes contain toxins including cancer causing agents that are as bad if not worse than those found in regular cigarettes. Both the American Dental Association and the United States Surgeon General believe that vaping is bad for oral health as well as other aspects of your health.
Smokeless Tobacco
Smokeless Tobacco comes in many forms, including:
- Snuff
- Snus
- Dissolvable Tobacco
- Dip/Chew
Once upon a time, there was only chewing tobacco with all of its spitting and bad smell. Now there are new tobacco products designed to be far less offensive and lure in the next generation of users. Products like dissolvable tobacco are essentially tobacco laced candy.
These products are still dangerous though. They can still cause different types of oral cancers and the added sugar sitting on your teeth is never a good thing.
Smoking Cigars and Oral Health
Cigars can range from bidis to cigarellos and blunts to even clove cigarettes. All of these are bad for your oral health and leave you susceptible to future oral health problems.
Since you smoke all of these products, you can also expect stained teeth and gums as well as bad breath and a higher likelihood of sores and cavities. Additionally, these products can also do damage to aspects of your health.
Hookah
While hookah bars are fun and popular, one smoking session can do as much damage to your body as smoking five packs of cigarettes. Obviously visiting a hookah bar should not be a regular activity.
Just like cigarettes, this much exposure to tobacco can leave your teeth and mouth damaged and more susceptible to future problems and diseases.
Illicit Drug Smoking and Oral Health
It goes almost without saying that illicit drugs are bad for your health. However anytime that you are smoking an unregulated substance you should also consider the possibility that there will be damage to your teeth, mouth and your oral health from unknown chemicals.
Live Tobacco Free For Good Oral Health
Staying away from smoking and any use of tobacco is part of a healthy lifestyle and part of maintaining good oral health. If you need more information on quitting tobacco use visit the CDC’s website for more information.
If you need to speak to your dentist about damage done to your oral health by tobacco use, schedule an appointment with Bella Dental today.