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Smoking Gum Disease Cancer

“Tobacco use is a risk factor for oral cancers, periodontal disease and dental caries among other diseases.” – U.S. Surgeon General’s Report

  1. Does smoking make me less attractive ?
  2. Is there a direct connection between tooth loss and smoking?
  3. How can smoking lead to the loss of teeth?
  4. Why should I give up smoking?
  5. Is there a direct connection between smoking and oral cancer?
  6. How does smoking cause mouth cancer?
  7. Does cigar or pipe smoking also cause oral cancer?
  8. Does the use of alcohol aggravate the effects of smoking?
  9. Is chewing tobacco or taking snuff a safe form of tobacco use?

 
1. Does smoking make me less attractive?

  • Smokers have unattractive mouths. Non-smokers are acutely aware of being close to a smoker.
  • Smoking causes unattractive brown stains on teeth.
  • These stains are not easy to remove without professional help.
  • Smoking causes bad breath.
  • A combination of bad breath and stained teeth cannot be considered attractive!
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The smoker
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Staining + gum disease
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Nicotine stains

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2. Is there a direct connection between tooth loss and smoking?

  • According to research done in the U.S.A., smokers are twice as likely to lose their teeth as non-smokers.
  • Smoking leads to gum disease, which shrinks the alveolar bone. This results in tooth loss.

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3. How can smoking lead to the loss of teeth?

  • Smoking has a detrimental effect on oral hygiene.
    • Smoking helps to build up plaque on teeth, which causes gum disease.
    • The receding gums will be red and swollen.
    • Use of tobacco is thought to restrict the flow of blood to the gums.
    • This can have a direct effect on the gums, causing gum disease.
    • This is achieved by preventing nutrients from reaching the tissues around the teeth.
    • The supporting bone will also recede and the tooth will become loose. Loose teeth either fall out or have to be extracted.
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Gum disease

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4. Why should I give up smoking?

  • Giving up smoking reduces the risk of cancer, tooth loss and other oral conditions:
    • Most importantly, giving up smoking reduces the possibility of heart disease.
    • Your breath will be fresher.
    • Your mouth will taste sweeter.
    • Nicotine stains that have been professionally removed will not recur.
    • Smokers may also develop a condition called nicotinic stomatitis.
      It is an inflammation of the mouth that is not cancerous. It is illustrated below.
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Nicotinic stomatitis

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5. Is there a direct connection between smoking and oral cancer?

  • The connection has been proved beyond any doubt:
    • Smoking can cause cancer in the mouth, the respiratory system or anywhere else in the body.
    • Smoking is the main cause of cancer in the mouth and throat.
    • Excessive alcohol use together with smoking increases the risk of cancer.
    • Research in the U.S.A. indicates that 75% of oral cancer is caused by a combination of smoking and alcohol.
    • Smokers with oral cancer are more likely to die of the disease than non-smokers with oral cancer.
    • Exposure to the sun’s rays and to X-rays in combination with smoking is thought to cause cancer of the mouth and lips.
    • Betel-nut chewing, together with tobacco use, is considered to be cancer forming.

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6. How does smoking cause oral cancer?

  • “There is evidence that smoking suppresses the immune system, and this may be one of the ways in which smoking acts as a major risk factor in oral cancer.” U.S. Surgeon General Report
    • Tobacco contains carcinogenic substances.
    • The most damaging substance is in the tobacco tar.
    • Leucoplakia is caused by smoking. It is seen as raised white patches or mouth sores, and is a pre-cancerous condition.
    • Cancer may develop from these smoking-induced mouth sores.
    • These problems are compounded by a combination of smoking and alcohol.
    • Alcohol helps these carcinogenic substances to penetrate the oral tissues.
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Leucoplakia

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7. Does cigar or pipe smoking also cause oral cancer?

  • Smoking tobacco in any form can cause cancer. This includes cigars, pipes and cigarettes.
  • Because the hot pipe stem rests on the lower lip, this is often where pipe smokers get cancer.
  • Mouth cancers occur on the lips, the tongue and the floor of the mouth
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Lip cancer
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Cancer of the tongue

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8. Does the use of alcohol aggravate the effects of smoking?

  • A combination of alcohol and tobacco smoke are thought to increase the risk of oral cancers.
  • Alcohol helps the carcinogenic substances in tobacco smoke to penetrate the tissues.

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9. Is chewing tobacco or taking snuff a safe form of tobacco use?

  • Tobacco-use is carcinogenic.
  • Chewing tobacco (spit tobacco), snuff and all tobacco products are thought to cause cancer.

See Cancer

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