What is tobacco smoking? Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the smoke that is produced. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. Smoking is the most common method of consuming tobacco, and tobacco is the most common substance smoked. This is the number one reason for poor oral health in smokers. Tobacco can be consumed in the form of cigars, beeti, cigarettes, hookah, pipe smoking, and vaporizer. How smoking hurts teeth Smoking wreaks havoc on your tooth as well as oral health. Any kind of tobacco smoking leads to issues related to teeth. The longer you continue to smoke, the more damage you are likely to inflict. There are many effects on teeth that can occur due to smoking which are as follows: Tooth Discoloration: Regular tobacco use, even if you are not an everyday smoker, can turn white teeth into ones that are yellow or brown. The more you smoke, the more likely you are to notice tooth discoloration quickly. The amount you smoke will also play a role in how discolored your teeth become. Tooth Decay: Tobacco and tobacco smoke can do some serious damage to your mouth. Smoking causes the formation of large cavities around the gum line and can lead to infections and weak teeth, which can cause breaks down the road. Broken teeth will need to be repaired, which can be costly and, in many cases, painful. Periodontal Disease: Periodontal disease, sometimes referred to simply as gum disease, is a bacterial infection that occurs in your mouth. Over time, this infection impacts the gums. At first, periodontal disease will generally lead to a sore mouth and red gums that are easily irritated. In some cases, periodontal disease can also manifest as gums that look like they're receding. Bone Damage: If periodontal disease is left to fester for too long, the infection can spread into tissue and bone, which can then become weaker. Over time, bone damage can occur if periodontal disease is not treated and the infection is never remedied. Tooth Loss: When periodontal disease takes hold in your mouth, tooth loss usually occurs. That’s because as the gums get weaker, they will do less to hold onto the teeth. Where there is periodontal disease, you will also usually find a higher rate of decay due to infection.

How smoking hurts the gums Smoking is bad for your oral health, and that includes your gums. If you smoke, you have a higher risk of developing gum disease and, if you do have it, it is likely to be more severe and harder to treat than for non-smokers. The more you smoke and the longer you are a smoker, the higher your risk becomes. Following are the effects on the gums the can occur due to smoking: Gum disease: It is caused by the build-up of plaque bacteria on, around, and in between your teeth. This can irritate gums so they become red, swollen, and may bleed when brushing and flossing. If left untreated, this can become more severe and may even lead to tooth loss. Infections: Smoking weakens your body’s ability to fight off infection, this makes it harder to combat gum infection and, once your gums are damaged, smoking itself also makes it harder to combat gum infection. Bleeding gums: Bleeding gums when brushing and flossing are a common symptom of gingivitis but, because nicotine restricts the blood flow to the gums, smokers may not experience this early warning sign of gum disease. A sign of smoking includes that the gums of smokers can become grey and discolored. How smoking hurts the mouth or oral cavity Smoking can overall affect a person's oral health if they regularly smoke. Following are the effects caused by smoking on the oral cavity of the smoker: Aesthetics, smell, and taste: Smoking causes discoloration of the teeth (more than from the consumption of coffee and tea), dental fillings, and dentures. This affects the appearance of the mouth. Smoking is also a common cause of bad breath and affects our ability for us to be able to taste and smell. Smoker’s melanosis: Smoker’s melanosis is associated with cigarette and pipe smoking and is seen as brown spots inside the mouth. Smoker’s melanosis occurs in most smokers. The pigmentation in the mouth is a result of tobacco smoke. This has a very adverse effect on oral health. Nicotinic stomatitis (smoker’s palate): Nicotinic stomatitis is seen in the mouth as several bumps, which may have red centers, and occurs on the top of the mouth, which looks whitish in appearance overall. This appearance is due to irritated salivary glands with inflamed ducts, which enter into the mouth. Nicotinic stomatitis is a response to heat thus, there is no chance of cancer as a direct result of this lesion. Nicotinic stomatitis usually goes away once the person stops smoking. The top of the mouth returns to how it should look within 1-2 weeks of stopping smoking. Hairy tongue: Hairy tongue is characterized by an overgrowth of little "hairs" on the tongue known as papillae. The papillae may be stained white, yellow, brown, green, or black, depending on the source of the staining. With tobacco use, the color is generally brown or black. This condition is of concern as it does not look very nice and also may contribute to bad breath.

Treatments *In many cases, discoloration can be fixed with cleaning, polishing, and whitening procedures. *Decay can be treated with fillings, root canals, and even crowns, and periodontal disease is often reversible via deep cleaning, sometimes referred to as scaling and root planing. *Give up or completely quit smoking. In people with severe gum disease, quitting smoking makes a big difference. *Getting rid of plaque bacteria with a good oral health routine will also help to improve gum health. *Brushing twice daily with a good toothpaste physically removes the build-up of bacteria along the gum line, helping to keep gums healthy and teeth strong. *Smokers need to have regular check-ups because a professional examination may pick up the signs of gum disease even if they are masked by smoking. The dentist can tell the patient to give up smoking if they see any early signs of gingivitis.