Tobacco and Oral Health

HEALTH ADA Healthy Smile Tips

· Brush your teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste. Tobacco and · Clean between your teeth once a day. Using tobacco in any form · Eat a healthy diet and limit snacks. · Visit your dentist regularly. Oral Health is risky. Here’s why: You are probably aware that Cigarettes, pipes and cigars For more information about taking care of smoking causes cancer, stroke Smoking traditional tobacco like your mouth and teeth, cigarettes, pipes and cigars can cause visit MouthHealthy.org, and heart disease, but did you serious health issues to your mouth and the ADA’s website just for patients. know that it can also cause throat. Cigarette smoke has over 7,000 chemicals and chemical compounds. At least serious harm to your mouth? 70 of them are known to cause cancer.

Smoking is also linked to: It doesn’t matter how you use • Gum disease it — whether you smoke it, dip • Heart disease it, or chew it — tobacco is not • Stroke • Lung disease good for you. • Problems with pregnancy • Birth defects • Mouth cancer • Throat cancer

Nicotine stain photo courtesy of Othman Shibly, DDS, MS, School of Dental Medicine, University at Buffalo, State University of New York

W190 To order additional copies, call 800.947.4746 or visit adacatalog.org Smoking causes stains that can only be removed by a licensed dental professional. © 2016 American Dental Association All rights reserved. SAMPLE Waterpipes (Hookahs) What happens to your mouth Tips to Quit Tobacco Waterpipes, or hookahs, also pack a tobacco punch. when you use tobacco? A smoking session could last as long as 80 minutes. Overall, tobacco can affect all parts of your health, • Make a list of your own personal reasons Smoking hookahs have even been linked to many of including your mouth. It can lead to gum disease for quitting. the same health problems as cigarettes. = and tooth loss. Your teeth and tongue can become • Set a date to quit in the near future and There are many types of hookah tobacco brown and stained. You can also have bad breath stick to it. Choose a “low stress” time to quit. that doesn’t go away and even get mouth sores. available, so you can’t know how much nicotine One can of smokeless tobacco has • Don’t do it alone — ask your dentist, and other dangerous chemicals are in it every Using tobacco also slows down recovery time after as much nicotine as 60 cigarettes physician, family, friends and coworkers time you smoke. dental treatments. (or three packs). for their support in helping you quit. • Ask your dentist or physician about Did You Know? products that may help your body One session of smoking from a hookah can The nicotine in smokeless tobacco is swallowed gradually get used to life without nicotine. be the same as smoking 100 cigarettes! or absorbed through blood vessels in your mouth. • Find a healthy substitute when you have Holding an average-sized dip in your mouth for a tobacco craving, such as sugarless gum, 30 minutes gives you as much nicotine as smoking sugar-free hard candy, sunflower seeds or three cigarettes. Sores, gums that pull Tobacco users are at higher risk carrot sticks. away from teeth and of gum disease, which can lead stains often result to tooth loss. • Think about the 4 D’s when you crave E-cigarettes and vaping machines from using smokeless tobacco: tobacco. Many people are turning to e-cigarettes and - Delay — the craving will pass in 5-10 vaping machines because they believe they may minutes. be a safer and healthier choice than traditional Why Quit Using Tobacco? - Drink water — it gives you something to tobacco products like cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. hold in your hands and put in your mouth. However, there is no current evidence to show • Your mouth will be healthier. Quitting - Do something else — distract yourself that e-cigarettes and vaping devices are any tobacco can lower your risk for gums that by being active. safer than regular tobacco products. There pull away from your teeth, gum disease, - Deep breathing — deeply breathing in is also no evidence to show that vaping is an bone loss of the jaw and tooth loss. and out will help relax you. effective way to quit smoking. Smokeless tobacco • You will look and feel better. Bad breath, Plus, the same toxic ingredients that are in cigarettes Resources to Quit Tobacco Smokeless tobacco (also called chewing tobacco, stained teeth that cannot be cleaned by have also been found in the vapor of e-cigarettes. spit, dip, snuff, snus or chew) contains more brushing, and drooling saliva are all results • www.smokefree.gov There are thousands of brands and types of vaping than 3,000 chemicals, including at least 28 of using tobacco. This website provides a Step-By-Step Quit liquids on the market. They all have different Guide and other tools to help you quit. cancer-causing ingredients. You may think that ingredients and different amounts of nicotine in • You will save money. The amount you “smokeless” means “harmless,” but this is not true. • National Network of Tobacco them, so there isn’t a clear way to know exactly spend each week on tobacco can add up to Any kind of tobacco can harm your health. hundreds, even thousands, of dollars a year. Cessation Quitlines what other chemicals and how much nicotine you 1-800-QUITNOW (1-800-784-8669) If you use smokeless tobacco then you can take are inhaling every time you vape. • You will set a healthy example. Be a 1-800-332-8615 (TTY) in a large amount of nicotine and cancer-causing role model for your family and friends, Callers can speak with a counselor in your chemicals even without lighting up. If you are addicted to nicotine, it will be especially children. You may even inspire state, as well as receive information and difficult to stop using smokeless tobacco others to give up tobacco when you quit. referrals to other helpful sources. SAMPLEor e-cigarettes.