Today, it almost goes without saying that tobacco is not good for you! While lecturing and pestering about tobacco use does little good, at West 10th Dental Group we feel that you should be educated to the specific oral health risks associated with chronic tobacco use.

All forms of tobacco, pipes, cigars, cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, increase your risk of oral cancer, throat cancer, and gum disease. It is a rare patient who develops oral cancer who has not used tobacco at one time or another in their life. In addition, the survival rates are still not very good for many types of oral cancer.

Certainly more common, is increased susceptibility to gum disease in tobacco users. Tobacco products contain a variety of toxins that damage the gum tissues, causing the gums to pull away from the teeth. Bone loss from periodontal disease in smokers has been found to be as much as seventeen times greater than in nonsmokers. Receding gums and bone loss will expose the tooth roots leading to sensitivity, tooth decay, tooth loosening, and eventual tooth loss.

Part of your dental check up at West 10th Dental Group will be to access your oral health for oral cancer and other problems associated with tobacco use. Your dental professional will be happy to offer suggestions to reduce the complications from tobacco, and you will receive a referral to smoking cessation programs if you are interested in quitting.

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