How Smoking and Vaping Impact Your Dental Health

Are you a chronic smoker? Maybe you have put down the cigarette in favor of vaping? Regardless, it is important to understand the risks associated with both- especially for your dental health. Although vaping has been marketed as a "healthier" alternative to smoking, both pose some serious threats to the overall well-being of your teeth and gums. Of course, both also can severely damage your lungs, but for the sake of this blog we will be focusing on how smoking and vaping impacts your dental health. 

Luckily, our dental clinic in Osage Beach, MO also has some tips for how you can help provide your teeth and gums with some much needed care! So, keep reading to find out more! 

Smoking/Vaping Risks on Dental Health

For starters, let's address some of the different risks that both of these can have on your dental health. Keep in mind, this list will be pretty long, but even then it does not cover all of the risks associated and these are only a handful of risks you may be exposed to from smoking/vaping. 

The Risks:

-Smoker's keratosis (The whitening of the soft tissue in your mouth.)

-Gum disease

-Loss of taste

-Tooth decay

-Tooth loss

-Mouth cancer

-Halitosis

-Poor healing after dental work/care

And so many more. These risks obviously pose a massive threat to your teeth and gums, not to mention, even when you begin trying to heal, you can run into some major problems along the way and stall your dental care solutions. 

Increased Risk of Infections

In addition to the associated risks we listed off earlier, you can also find that studies have shown that the chances of getting dental infections are at an increased rate for smokers/vapers. The studies have shown that your chances are doubled that of an individual who doesn't smoke. This is attributed to the chemicals- especially in vapes- damage and traumatize the tissue in your mouth, which leads to a lack of ability to repair the damage. 

This can obviously lead to a slew of issues, including the bacteria in your mouth spreading, which can lead to some nasty infections in your mouth. 

Preventative Measures

As we mentioned prior, we do want to provide some insight into some preventative measures that you can take to help keep your teeth and gums as healthy as possible. 

The Measures:

-Quit smoking- Now this one is obviously easier said than done, but by all means, if you are able to stop smoking or at least cut out as much as possible, you will see noticeable differences in the state of your dental health. 

-Brush and floss 2x/day

-Try and keep your mouth from getting dry- Whether you do this in the form of chewing gum to promote saliva production or you take medication for dry mouth issues, keeping your mouth from getting too dry can help with preventing any further dental issues. 

-Refrain from alcohol and other drug usage

And of course, visit your dentist at least 2x/year. If you don't have a dentist, be sure to check out one of our dental practices in Missouri, and we would be more than happy to help you get your teeth and gums in the healthiest state we can. 

Smoking and vaping can cause irreversible damage to your dental health, which is why it is important to understand what these risks are and how you can prevent them. Contacting our local dentist office in Missouri is a good start in the right direction, as we can provide more insight to the state of your teeth and gums, as well as start the journey of recovering from any damages. 

If you would like more information or would like to schedule an appointment, please visit our website at www.accessdentalanddentures.com