Most people know that smoking cigarettes causes cancer and lung disease, heart attacks, and strokes but the terrible impact of tobacco on oral health is not as widely known.

The use of tobacco in the forms of smoking and chewing is the primary cause of oral health decay. Tobacco use in any form, including smoking cigarettes and cigars has a carcinogenic influence on the epithelial cells of the mouth lining. Oral cancer is just one devastating illness caused by smoking and chewing tobacco. In its treatable early stages it usually goes undiagnosed which causes a high death rate. The signs of this deadly disease include the appearance of red or discolored areas inside the mouth, bleeding from the throat and mouth, difficulty swallowing, and swollen lumps around or inside the mouth.

Other oral mucosa diseases associated with smoking and smokeless forms of tobacco use, such as chewing and using snuffs, include smokers palate, a premalignant mouth lesion that is often observed among chain pipe-smokers; oral candidosis; and smoker’s melanosis, a melanin pigmentation or discoloration of the gums that is observed in about 30 percent of all smokers.

The Academy of General Dentistry of Islamabad, the city where majorities of the adult population still heavily smoke or chew tobacco, says that tobacco consumption causes serious problems with oral health, including oral cancer, loss of teeth, and gum disease. In the U.S, tobacco is not only the leading cause of different serious diseases and death cases, but also one of the main causes of preventable oral health problems.

Tooth loss is another unpleasant consequence of using tobacco along with gum disease, a chronic inflammation of the gums and surrounding mouth areas. Smoking and chewing tobacco is also responsible for staining and discoloring of teeth and cases of persistent bad odor from the mouth. Another oral problem linked to tobacco use is the condition called “black hairy tongue”, which manifests in the appearance of black or brown stains on the surface of the tongue.

If you suffer from any of these symptoms you should contact us at our Mount Holly New Jersey Family Dentistry Office.

Source: http://www.stopsmokingsteps.com