Dr. Michael Young and his team would like to remind you that May 31st marks World No Tobacco Day. While we strongly encourage patients to abstain from all forms of tobacco on that day, Dr. Young encourages abstinence every day, all year round. It is well documented that tobacco use is harmful to your health, but many people still ignore the avalanche of information available today. To help you be mindful of the dangers, here are a few interesting facts that illustrate how tobacco harms your dental health.
- A single cigarette contains over 4,000 harmful chemicals. The main ingredient, nicotine, is a substance also found in bug spray.
- Other ingredients found in cigarettes include tar, the same substance used to pave roads, and formaldehyde, which is used to embalm and preserve deceased animals and humans. Also included are cyanide–the main ingredient in rat poison–lead, acetone, ammonia, and carbon monoxide
- Smoking not only causes bad breath and destroys your teeth, but it can also compromise your dental implants, weakening their attachment to your jaw by affecting the bone and soft tissues around them.
- Smoking causes severe inflammation of the salivary glands, reducing a smoker’s ability to smell and taste.
- Tobacco smoke can lead to gum disease by weakening the bone and soft tissues of your mouth. Smoking can also cause oral cancer.
- Just because a tobacco product is smokeless does not mean it is harmless. Smokeless tobacco products, such as snuff and chewing tobacco, also contain numerous chemicals that increase the risk of oral, throat, and esophageal cancer.
- Even the sugar added to chewing tobacco for flavor is harmful, as it can erode the tooth’s enamel and irritate gum tissue, causing the gums to recede from the tooth and expose the root.
- Tobacco use destroys oral integrity. A shocking 41.3% of daily smokers over 65 are completely toothless, as opposed to less than 20% of non smokers over 65.
Tobacco is one of the leading dangers to oral health, and as No Tobacco Day approaches, we want to ensure that your oral health remains in peak condition. If you are a smoker, Dr. Young will perform a comprehensive exam to determine the extent of damage to your teeth and gums and provide advanced care to treat that damage and prevent it from destroying your smile. We also offer a wide variety of cosmetic dentistry services to the Lafayette community, including veneers and teeth whitening. To schedule an appointment with your Lafayette dentist, call our office at (337) 237-6453