Smoking And Gum Disease
It is medically acknowledged that smoking not
only causes mouth and lung cancer, but a whole
host of other problems such as heart disease, bronchitis
and pneumonia. It is also widely recognised that
smoking damages your body's ability to heal itself
and fight off infections and nowhere is this more
evident than in people who suffer from gum disease.
Smoking encourages gum disease to develop because
it disables your body's natural healing mechanisms,
making treatment much less effective. The healing
ability of your body remains affected even after
you give up smoking, making you more susceptible
to all kinds of other infections. Sufferers of
gum disease are more likely to experience shrinkage
of gums, loosening and movement of teeth, abscesses
and even tooth loss - recent research has shown
that only 20% of people over the age of 65 who
had never smoked are toothless, compared to 41%
of smokers.
People make the common
mistake of thinking that the problem comes only
from cigarette smoking.
However all types of smoking, such as pipe-smoking,
cigar-smoking, and chewing tobacco can also damage
your health. Those smoking marijuana don't realise
that in addition to the damage from tobacco, the
resins in marijuana are so destructive that one "joint" has
the equivalent destructive capacity of approximately
30 cigarettes!
So apart from affecting your social life by causing
smelly breath, unsightly and stained teeth, you
may also end up having to wear dentures because
you've lost all your teeth!
Further Reading
1. Ashril NY, Al-Sulamani A
J Int Acad Periodontol,2003 Apr;5(2) 41-6
2. Martinez-Canut P, Lorca A, Magan R
J Clin Periodontol 1995 Oct;22(10) 743-9
3. Haffajee AD, Socransky SS
J Clin Periodontol 2001 Apr;28(4) 283-95
4. Calsina G, Ramon
JM, Echeverria JJ
J Clin Periodontol 2002 Aug;29(8);771-6
