If you are a tobacco user and you go to see a Newport Beach dentist, it is more than likely that they will urge you to quit. That is because negative dental effects are one of the many dangers of tobacco, and your dentist will be able to see those effects firsthand as they are cleaning your teeth. Let’s look in a little more depth at how tobacco use is the enemy of good oral health.
What Tobacco Does to Your Gums and Teeth
To put it mildly, tobacco use of any kind wreaks havoc with your gums and teeth. Tobacco use stains them, so if you want white, clean-looking teeth, use of cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and chewing tobacco will make this an uphill battle. Your teeth will come away from regular tobacco use various shades of yellow, brown, gray, and black. It’s not a good look, and it is not one that anyone wants.
Then there’s tooth loss. Use of tobacco over time weakens the gums and causing your teeth to become loose in the sockets. Eventually, you’ll likely lose those teeth, and then you’re either looking at crowns, dentures, or gaps in your smile. If you don’t want to resemble a Jack o’lantern, get rid of the habit.
The most significant risk posed by tobacco use, though, as it relates to your mouth, is oral cancer, as your Newport Beach dentist will surely tell you. People often associate lung and throat cancer with smoking, as indeed they should, but mouth cancer is another probability for the long-term smoker, and living with it can be awful. If it continues unchecked, it can prove fatal every bit as much as throat or lung cancer. Every year it claims the lives of many people.
What Can You Do About It?
The most obvious answer is to stop, however you can. Since tobacco contains nicotine, which is so addictive, it can be extremely challenging to quit if you have a heavy habit that has gone on for years. If you are a smoker and you’re determined to stop, talk to your Newport Beach dentist about it.
As medical professionals, dentists care about your health and wellbeing, and if you are sincere in your efforts to quit, they will likely have several suggestions as to how you can go about doing that. Nicotine gum, patches, and other medications are on the market, and you can also go to support groups. Your family and friends can hopefully help you as well. It’s always the right time to quit smoking and using tobacco products. By doing so, you’ll prolong your life.
Whatever incentive you can find to quit smoking, use it. If it’s to watch your kids grow up, then stick to that. If it’s to live to see retirement, then that’s fine too. If it’s to have a nice smile, free of stains and gaps from missing teeth, then go with that.
Whatever the case, your Newport Beach dentist will gladly support you. Quitting isn’t easy, but they will always have your back if you are determined to make a change.