Smoking has a terrible effect on every part of the body, but especially on the parts that cigarette smoke comes in direct contact with. What happens to the lungs is well known, but a smoker’s mouth also takes a large amount of damage as well.
A major stereotype of a heavy smoker is yellow or missing teeth, and for good reason. Cigarette smoke weakens your gums and leaves smokers much more likely to suffer damage.
How is Smoking related to Gum Disease
Every time you smoke a cigarette your body is flooded with 4000+ chemicals, and these chemicals cause havoc on your gums.
Cigarette smoke does this by interfering and weakening the normal function of gum tissue cells, which makes it easier to contract gum disease.
But cigarette smoke isn’t finished. Once a smoker contracts a gum disease and continues to smoke your gums actually find it harder to heal. This is because there is less blood flow to the gums (as smoking also causes blockages in your arteries) and so healing is impaired.
What does this mean for you if you are a smoker:
- You have twice the risk for gum disease compared with a non-smoker
- The more cigarettes you smoke, the greater you risk gum disease
- The longer you smoke, the greater your risk for gum disease
- Treatments for gum disease may not work as well for people who smoke
What about my teeth
Smoking can not only lead to gum disease though, but it also has huge effects on the appearance.
Cigarettes create plaque and tartar which lead to the teeth having a yellowish-brown look to them after a while. The tar in cigarettes also stains them, the same way that your fingers will become yellow if you smoke a lot.
Brushing and keeping to a good dental hygiene can combat this somewhat, but the plaque will still slowly build up and if you smoke for long enough you too will have that yellow cigarette smile.
Not only does cigarette smoke effect the colouring of your teeth but it can also lead to actual tooth decay. If you smoke long enough the toxins in cigarettes can eventually lead to large cavities which cause the teeth to weaken and eventually break. Smoking also weakens your bones and teeth, making it easier for them to break. As anyone who has had this happen to them, having a broken tooth could turn out to be very costly and painful!
The last and worst-case scenario is actual tooth loss. This happens when something called Periodontal disease takes place. When the gums become weaker the tissues cannot hold the tooth into the gum, which causes them to loosen and then eventfully fall out.
Smoking bad breath
We also need to touch on the affect that smoking has on your breath.
Smoking causes the drying out of your mouth which lets bacteria start to grow and can lead to halitosis.
As we mentioned above smoking creates cavities between your teeth and your gums and whenever you eat anything food particles fall into these little pockets, and bacteria starts to grow there.
The food then starts to rot with the help of the bacteria and creates bad breath. Mouthwash and brushing your teeth can cover this smell up, but it is extremely difficult to actually get rid of it.
E- cigarettes and teeth
The best thing you can do for your teeth then is to stop smoking. It won’t reverse the tooth loss, but it can help your mouth to start healing.
But if a smoker has gotten to this point, then they have probably tried to quit many times, to no avail. That where e-cigarettes can help.
As E-cigarettes don’t have the 4000+ chemicals that are damaging your mouth you can stop damaging your teeth, and because there is no tar the yellow staining will stop as well.
However e-cigarettes still contain nicotine and taste and feel like a cigarette, so long time smokers can still feel like they are puffing away without doing any more damage to their mouths.
This lack of chemicals is actually why Public Health England says that e-cigarettes are at least “95% less harmful than cigarettes”. They are also the most effective way to quit smoking, with a study showing that they are almost twice as effective as nicotine patches or gum!
Aside from the health benefits for your health switching to SMOKO will have monetary benefits as well. As SMOKO refills have about 30 cigarettes worth of nicotine in, and there are 5 refills to a box, that means you get 150 cigarettes worth of nicotine for £9.99!
Compare that to a box of 20 cigarettes for £10 (at least) you can start to see the difference. Just one SMOKO E-Cigarette refill, which works out less than £2, has more nicotine in than a whole pack of cigarettes. By switching then you get an 80% saving!
And that is not all the savings you get by switching. As there is no more tar being pumped into your mouth there won’t be any further staining, so no more spending on special toothpaste or whitening every 6 months.
So not only would you end up with a few more pounds in your pocket but also a brand new smile also.
Pick up a SMOKO Starter kit today then and not only do your mouth a favour, but your bank account too.
