Oral Health Effects of Nicotine

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You may have heard of the adverse effects that nicotine use can have on your health. It can cause many problems, including everything from high blood pressure to cancer. We offer dental exams and oral cancer screenings in Thornton, Colorado, to help you stay ahead of severe health problems. 

Especially if you’ve recently undergone oral surgery or are getting ready for a dental procedure, it would benefit your dental health to stop using tobacco products. Here are just a few reasons why. 

Tobacco Use and Gum Disease

Nicotine affects your body and dental function in multiple ways. When you smoke, the nicotine causes the blood vessels in your gums to constrict, blocking that much-needed, healthy blood flow to your gums and teeth.

Healthy blood flow to your gums helps to remove plaque and other toxins from the area and supplies your gum tissue with much-needed oxygen and nutrients. When you cut off the flow, you may experience a higher susceptibility to gum disease. 

If you’ve recently had or are about to undergo a dental procedure such as a dental implant, nicotine use can complicate the healing process. Your gums will heal faster and maintain their needed vitality for things like healing around a dental implant when they are as healthy as possible.

A lack of blood flow can also reduce your saliva production. Saliva helps to wash away food particles and other debris that cause tooth decay. 

Gum disease may be difficult to detect, and if not caught and treated early enough, it can lead to periodontitis. Periodontitis has no cure, although you can manage it and stop it from growing with the proper dental care. 

Increased Risk of Oral Cancer

Nicotine use also increases your risk of oral cancer. In fact, chewing tobacco can increase your cancer risk by up to 50 times more than those who do not use tobacco!

Oral cancer can spread to other parts of your body, so it’s crucial to catch it as early as possible. This is why Dr. Darwin provides oral cancer screenings – he can detect oral cancer by thoroughly examining your mouth during an exam and recommending appropriate treatment if necessary.

The Aesthetic Effects of Nicotine

Your problems do not stop at just adverse health effects if you use tobacco products. As everyone knows, a healthy smile is beautiful. But the opposite is also true. 

Smokers and tobacco chewers will notice an increase in difficult-to-remove tooth staining, which only professional teeth whitening treatments can remove. If you have teeth with decay and red, swollen gums, it may affect your smile, confidence, and overall self-esteem. 

If you have a reduction of saliva in your mouth due to nicotine use, you may also be at higher risk of bad breath. This is because your mouth can dry out, and nicotine can promote the types of bacteria that cause bad breath and other dental health problems. This is why smokers may commonly be associated with “smokers breath.”

At Creekside Premier Dental, we believe in preventative dentistry. We’d rather help you to avoid dental problems than treat them once they occur. But if you’re suffering from gum disease or tooth staining, we offer periodontal therapy and whitening treatments to help you keep your smile in tip-top shape.

Do Nicotine Gum or Lozenges Also Cause Problems?

Yes, although here’s what you should know about it. Especially if you want to quit smoking or chewing tobacco, you may wonder what recourse you have. 

Chewing nicotine gum or taking nicotine lozenges might be an excellent first step. The gum is sugar-free and helps to stimulate saliva production, which can help to keep your teeth clean and fight tooth decay. But, the nicotine in these products, although at a lower level than that in cigarettes and chewing tobacco, can cause the same problems associated with nicotine use. 

If you use nicotine gum or lozenges to help you quit your habit, try not to rely on it for too long. Try to graduate to different steps or stages during which you’re decreasing your use of these products until you can eventually avoid smoking or chewing without them. 

Oral Cancer Screenings in Thornton, Colorado

Do you smoke or chew tobacco? If so, you may ask yourself if it’s worth the risks. We hope this information will be helpful in your understanding of tobacco use, which can affect your overall and dental health. 

So do something good for your dental health before it’s too late! Please contact us if you have any questions about preventative care at Creekside Premier Dental or our quality dental services in Thornton, Colorado. You can also schedule online. We’d be happy to schedule an appointment for a dental exam and oral cancer screening.