Tobacco and oral health have been an issue for many decades, and although the health effects had been well documented, tobacco use prevails. Tobacco comes in many forms, and all of them are destricutive to our health.
How does tobacco affect dental health?
Since tobacco is a vasoconstrictor, smokers suffer from poor wound healing affecting the success of oral surgery procedures such as dental implants. For pregnant women, smoking can cause congenital defects such as cleft lip and cleft palate in their unborn children.
But the most serious direct effect of tobacco is oral and pharyngeal cancer. Tobacco induced oral cancer signs can be manifested as Leukoplakia, which are potentially malignant lesions. There is Nodular leukoplakia, Verrucous leukoplakia, Speckled leukoplakia, and Erythroplakia. All these types share similar characteristics of white and/or red uneven hard patches and are most commonly found on the mucous membrane of the cheeks, back of the throat, side of the tongue, or floor of the mouth.
The addictive factor in tobacco is nicotine. Besides one becoming chemically dependent to it, it can create physical habits such as holding the cigarette in their mouth or between the fingers, or social habits, such as smoking right after drinking a coffee or while having drinks with friends.
Either way, quitting tobacco is possible. There are multiple support websites and smart apps available to guide you through the quitting process. Lifesyle modification might be needed to break the smoking cycle and adjust to a smoke free environment. Over the counter medications such as nasal sprays, lozenges and skin patches are available in different nicotine strength to help with nicotine withdrawals. Prescription medication is also an option although not preferred due to its unwanted side effects.
It is said, relapses are common through the first tries of quitting tobacco, but don’t get discourage, the more tries it takes to quit tobacco, the easier it will get and lead to success.
If you are a tobacco user and quitting is not yet in your plans, it is important to do self screenings in between dental visits and keep up with your appointments to lower the chances of missing such lesions related to oral cancer.
Oral professionals are trained to detect abnormalities in the oral cavity and are a key component in the medical system to help and guide patients to quit tobacco and prevent tobacco related disease.
HQ Dontics Team.
Jenn Pettit, CRDH
Reference:
- Tobacco or Oral health: an advocacy guide for oral health professionals. World Health Organization – and FDI Wolrd dental federation.
