Smoking hits teeth, gums and tongue

Press, 17 February 1986, Page 10

Smoking hits teeth, gums and tongue

By Desmond Smith,

B.D.S., D.D.P.H.

It is a strange thing that mouths are so necessary to the act of smoking and yet get hardly a mention when it comes to considering the effects. There certainly are effects around the mouth. For one thing, anyone will tell you how much nicer it is to kiss a nonsmoker or even to talk with them. You do not have to move upwind before answering.

Taste and smell suffer among people who inhale the weed — mashed potatoes and ice-cream are not so different for them. It is quite surprising how much more enjoyment is obtained from taste buds which have not been half-stifled with smoke. And that is only the beginning.

Water finds its own level. Smoke finds every level; it fills up the oral cavity and leaves an impression on teeth, gums, tongue, sinuses and throat. Everyone knows the tell-tale nicotine stains on the fingers of a smoker, but not so many, apart from dentists, get to see the tremendous impact on the teeth, especially on the tongue-side. The colour there gets to be almost black quite frequently, and the collection of tartar, which causes gum disease, is greatly encouraged. My word, is it hard to remove! A smoker has no chance — the toothpastes

designed for this purpose are very abrasive and can be harmful to the teeth. Even the dentist has a job to scrape the deposits, off completely. It seems such an unnecessary expense when we deliberately do it to ourselves.

That all-pervasive smoke, once it passes beyond the teeth, starts on the gum tissues. Have a look at the roof of a smoker’s mouth the next time he gives a big yawn, and see how pale the soft tissues are compared to the normal appearance.

Nicotine interferes with the circulation of blood through the tiny vessels close to the surface, and this causes the gums round the mouth to be less healthy, because they are not getting nourishment.

People with any tendency to gum disease make it that much more difficult for their mouths to be brought back normal if they continue to use the accursed leaf. Again, it appears to cause such an unnecessary expense.

Smoke tends to clog up the lining membranes of the nose also, and this makes breathing harder. Therefore, the smoker chooses to mouth-breathe, and that contributes one more factor towards unhealthy gums. All in all, it appears that persons who have not cultivated the habit have a great deal more going for them when it comes to keeping their mouths in a reasonable state.

The body has a sufficiently busy task overcoming some of its natural enemies, like certain bacteria, without adding a foreign one like tobacco. While tooth troubles and gum disease are not usually terminal, the tendency of smoking to predispose the lips and mouth to concer often it.

Pipe and cigarette smokers put themselves at greatly increased risk when the continue their habit. Tumours around that part of the face are not a pretty sight and the required surgery is frequently very disfiguring. It is said that cancer is a great cure for smoking. However, leaving all that serious part aside, smoking really makes a person less attractive to be near and, rather than enhance a-relationship, it often interferes with one. Certainly, from a dental point of view, it is far better left alone.

Word of Mouth