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Smoking (Nicotine) and gum disease

JonesCarpeDiem
Member
0 3 4
‎03-26-2015 04:40 PM

Smoking and Gum Diseases

  

Smoking tobacco is one of the risk factors in developing gum diseases: inflammation and infection of the gums and bones that hold the teeth in position. Some of the major harmful side effects of smoking are:

  
       
  • Gingivitis- Studies have found that redness of the gingiva  and edema of the gums are severe in smokers when compared to non-smokers with similar oral hygiene. The nicotine content of the cigarette causes narrowing of the blood vessels causing decreased blood supply to the gums. Furthermore, the reduced immune response caused by smoking delays the body response to toxic oral microbes, i.e. the bacteria present in plaque can do more harm!
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  • Periodontitis- This is a progression that can occur from gingivitis.  Periodontal disease implies irreversible destruction of the gum and bone around teeth.  Smokers are more at risk of this type of damage.  The periodontal damage can also occur faster for smokers and the response to dental treatment is usually not as good as for non-smokers. Smokers demonstrate more calculus when compared to non smokers. Calculus causes recession of the gingiva, periodontal pockets and alveolar bone loss.  This in turn causes tooth mobility and loss of teeth.
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  • ANUG (Acute necrotizing  ulcerative gingivitis)- People who smoke more than 10 cigarettes per day are more prone to ANUG than non smokers. Smoking causes reduced blood flow and reduced immunity of the gum tissues.  This, along with poor oral hygiene, allows the bacteria to invade the gums, causing the painful ulcerative gum disease, ANUG.
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   don't look at the picture of the hairy tongue or you may go blind 🙂 
  
  
 
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About the Author
Hello, My name is Dale. I was quit 18 months before joining this site and had participated on another site during that time. I learned a lot there and brought it with me. I joined this site the first week of August 2008. I didn't pressure myself to quit. HOW I QUIT I didn't count, I didn't deny myself to get started. When I considered quitting (at a friends request to influence his brother to quit), I simply told myself to wait a little longer. No denial, nothing painful. After 4 weeks I was down to 5 cigarettes from a pack a day. The strength came from proving to myself, I didn't need to smoke because I normally would have smoked. Simple yes? I bought the patch. I forgot to put one on on the 4th day. I needed it the next day but the following week I forgot two days in a row I put one in my wallet with a promise to myself that I would slap it on and wait an hour rather than smoke. It rode in my wallet my first year.There's nothing keeping any of you from doing this. It doesn't cost a dime. This is about unlearning something you've done for a long time. The nicotine isn't the hard part. Disconnecting from the psychological pull, the memories and connected emotions is. :-) Time is the healer.