What You Should Know About Tooth Decay As A Smoker

Anybody that smokes has surely heard about the effects it can have on your health. However, the effects on your teeth can be just as bad. If you didn't think that smoking impacted your oral health, be sure to know the following things about tooth decay and smoking.

Smoking Causes Plaque Buildup

Some people wrongly assume that the quantity of how much they smoke has an effect on their teeth. The truth is that it doesn't matter if you've smoked one cigarette or one pack of cigarettes each day, it all contributes to tooth decay. While a heavy smoker may see the effects sooner, it doesn't mean less smoking has no effects.

Smoking cigarettes will cause an excessive amount of plaque buildup, which also leads to having bad breath. While brushing can help fight it, that midday smoking has a lasting effect on your teeth until you brush at the end of the day.

Smoking Speeds Up Tooth Decay

One of the reasons that smoking has such a big impact on your teeth, which is even more than eating sugary foods, is because smoking speeds up the decay process. This happens when the cigarette heats up your mouth by inhaling the hot smoke, which increases how quickly bacteria builds on the teeth. If you thought the solution was to brush after smoking, know that brushing doesn't do anything to stop the damage being caused by the act of smoking.

Pipes Cannot Prevent Decay

A big misconception that you may have is that using a pipe can prevent tooth decay from happening since the pipe goes past the teeth. The idea is that it is similar to using a stray where the liquid bypasses your teeth. This myth is simply not true. The nicotine and tar found tobacco can still harm your teeth, as well as cause health problems with the rest of your mouth. The only way to avoid the problem is to not smoke tobacco

While it is possible that seeing the effects of smoking on your teeth can be what convinces you to kick the habit, know that the sooner you stop smoking the less likely you'll be to create long-term damage. If you do not believe it, just talk to a dentist during your next routine cleaning. They can tell you the impact that smoking has had on your teeth just by looking at all of the problems you have caused so far. To learn more, visit a website like http://www.brooksidedentalgroup.com.


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