Seven Good Reasons To Stop Smoking

Alexandra Dental Care Dentist, George Savva, recommends ‘stub it out’ for good!

Every day, our teeth and gums face challenges and the foods we eat and our daily habits all contribute to potential harm. Some of the things that we do such as eating are fundamental, although we can choose wisely of course. Other things that some of us do though, are unnecessary and indeed are harmful not only to our teeth and gums but also to our general health; none more so than smoking.

Although fewer people smoke than in the past when a large number of us did, there are still thought to be in the region of 7 million people still smoking in the UK. This means that in addition to increased risk of gum disease, there will almost certainly be a significant number of premature deaths through cancers and heart disease.

With this in mind, we thought it was worth reminding you of some of the very good reasons to quit the smoking habit.

1)     As mentioned above, smoking poses a very big risk to your general health and wellbeing (we will discuss oral health separately). Lung diseases, including cancer, are a real possibility if you smoke, whether that be cigarettes, cigars or even a pipe.  Even if you don’t die of one of these, the chances are that as you become older, you will feel less able to do simple things such as run for a bus or even go for a pleasant walk without being out of breath. It really isn’t worth the risk.

2)     Smoking is a very expensive habit and anyone smoking, say 20 cigarettes a day, can expect to pay somewhere in the region of over £4,000 a year. That is a very significant amount of money that we suspect most of you could find better uses for.

3)     It is an anti social habit. Long gone are the days when passing the cigarettes round to share was the ‘done thing’ to be social. You are now more likely to meet a non smoker than a smoker, with many non smokers wanting little to do with someone who smokes. For anyone still dating, this will likely also limit your options.

4)     Cigarettes smell! Whilst we may not have noticed it as much when a lot of people smoked, it is very noticeable now if you sit next to a smoker on the bus. Whilst they can no longer smoke on the bus, the smell of stale cigarettes lingers long in the clothes and can be quite unpleasant, especially on longer journeys!

5)     Your breath will smell. Related to the above; if you smoke it is likely that you will have bad breath. This is bad enough when it is the smell of cigarette smoke, but a high number of smokers will also experience gum disease. This can have many symptoms, not only including bleeding gums and loose teeth, but halitosis too. This is a highly unpleasant smell that may cause people to take a quick step backwards if you are talking to them.

6)     Teeth discolouration. There are many reasons why teeth become discoloured, some of which we have discussed on previous blogs. Long term heavy smokers though will almost certainly find that their teeth become heavily stained to a point that a teeth whitening procedure will only have a limited effect. In cases like this, we are pleased to offer our Burton and Ashby patients dental veneers. Whilst veneers provide a good corrective solution, why get to that stage in the first place?

7)     Oral cancer. Although perhaps not the best known type of cancer, this can be life changing for people and not in a good way. It can prove to be fatal and may well also cause facial disfiguration, especially if not detected and treated early on. We check for potential indications of this during your check ups at Alexandra Dental Care and will refer you to your GP if we spot anything that we feel needs to be checked. If we do this, please do keep your appointment. It may well be that there are more innocent explanations of the symptoms we have spotted, but if not, the earlier you can start treatment, the better the outcome is likely to be.

As you can see from the above, there are many good reasons to stop smoking and none to start. To our younger patients, we say, please don’t start. You might think that it is fun and that you can stop before it does any harm, but most long term smokers will tell you otherwise. The nicotine in cigarettes is a very addictive substance; some claim more so than drugs like heroin. This can make stopping smoking very hard indeed and before you know it, you may be suffering the ill effects of what started out as a ‘bit of fun’.

If you have stopped smoking, we would recommend that you have an oral health check at our Swadlincote based practice. You will also benefit from a scale and polish which will help to manage any gum problems that exist. If you would like to make an appointment with us, please call our team on 01283 216347.

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