Smoking Causes a Mouthful of Trouble
Most people know smoking can lead to heart disease, lung cancer, high blood pressure and a host of ailments.1 Not nearly as many people realize that smoking-even smokeless tobacco-can lead to tooth discoloration, bad breath, gum disease, and cancers of the oral cavity.4
Oral cancers are diagnosed anywhere in the mouth-on the tongue, cheek, lip, or floor of the mouth, for instance. If you use tobacco in any form, you increase your risk of developing an oral cancer.2
Smoking also makes dental implants less successful and increases your risk for periodontal (gum) disease.3,5
Dentists often ask about smoking and smokeless tobacco because tobacco reduces the ability for gum tissue to heal from infection and inflammation, common symptoms of gum disease.5
Dentists stress that there is no safe form of tobacco. Even filtered cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and smokeless tobacco do damage. Chewing tobacco stains teeth and causes cancers of the cheek and tongue.4
If you have a sore, lump, or ulcer in your mouth for two or three weeks and you aren't sure what it is, see your dentist.4
1"Cigarette and Tobacco Use: Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 29, 2009. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/index.htm. Accessed 2009.
2"Oral Health Topics A-Z: Oral Cancer." American Dental Association. http://www.ada.org/public/topics/cancer_oral.asp. Accessed 2009.
3"Oral Health Topics A-Z: Periodontal (Gum) Disease." American Dental Association. http://www.ada.org/public/topics/periodontal_diseases.asp. Accessed 2009.
4"Oral Health Topics A-Z: Smoking (Tobacco) Cessation." American Dental Association. http://www.ada.org/public/topics/smoking_tobacco_faq.asp. Accessed 2009.
5"Tobacco Use and Periodontal Disease." American Academy of Periodontology. http://www.perio.org/consumer/smoking.htm. Accessed 2009.