Why Smoking Is Bad For Your Teeth
Hello, I’m Dr. Grey Kantor here with Kantor Dental Group in San Rafael, California. Today I want to talk about smoking and your teeth.
What’s going on there? Because most people think of smoking affecting your lungs, cancer, emphysema. These are things that come to mind for most of us when we think about smoking. But it hugely affects your teeth and it is very bad for your teeth. About three quarters of the people that smoke end up losing their teeth in older age. So, it’s so damaging and the reason why is because the smoke is a vasoconstrictor. That vasoconstriction is especially apparent in your gums. So, you probably notice that if you’re a smoker, “Oh hey, my teeth. They don’t bleed when I floss or anything. I never had problems with teeth bleeding.” Well yes, you may not. However, you aren’t getting the appropriate nutrients to your teeth to allow for the continual healing that is necessary for healthy teeth, right?
We’re damaging our gums all day long. We bite food we, you know, chips, cuts on our mouth. All of that is being repaired constantly. And if you don’t have enough blood flow to your teeth, how is it possible that you could that they’ll be able to heal appropriately and maintain your teeth for a lifetime? What happens is you get what’s called periodontitis which is bone loss around your teeth. And that bone loss starts for mild to moderate and when it gets to severe you start losing teeth. They get wiggly and you start losing teeth.
So, I think very important thing to at least know if you are a smoker that there’s a high probability of losing your teeth in older age. So, I think that’s very important and I hope you do to because our teeth are what make us smile and chew good.
If you have any more questions about smoking and your teeth definitely come and talk to us here at Kantor Dental Group in San Rafael, California. Please subscribe.
Posted by
drgrey
on Feb 18th, 2019
6:30 am
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Tags: Lung Cancer, Smoking, Teeth Loss, Vasoconstrictor
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