What are the possible dental damages caused by passive smoking?
Everyone knows that smoking is detrimental to our dental health as the habit tends to teeth discoloration, cause gum infections, affect the salivary flow, etc. People who are simply standing around a smoker are also susceptible to various smoking-related diseases. Researchers found that the combination of smoke from the fume of burning tobacco and other plant materials along with the smoke exhaled by smokers also have a wreck on our oral cavity.
In this post, our dentists have listed the dental complications promoted by secondhand smoking.
What are the possible dental diseases linked to passive smoking?
We have noticed kids are highly affected due to secondhand smoke because their organs and bones are still developing. Hence infants and babies can develop various problems when they inhale tobacco smoke frequently. Here are the dental concerns commonly seen in kids:
1) Tooth decay
Similar to smoking, passive smoking can also compromise the body’s ability to fight against oral bacteria. It tends the microbes to penetrate deep inside the teeth and causes cavities. Many researches showcase that kids aged between 4 and 11 have 27% higher risk of developing a cavity in their teeth due to secondhand smoking.
2) Bone loss
Passive smoking is also powerful to reduce bone mineral density as well as smoking. It happens because the chemicals and toxic compounds in the cigarette fumes can affect the bone tissues followed by weakening the bone support of teeth and eventually ends in tooth loss.
3) Gum diseases
As seen earlier, the dangerous compounds in secondhand smoke are powerful to weaken the oral tissues. Hence gum tissues can be easily compromised and become prone to infection. The oral microbes in plaque will start irritating the gum tissues and pull them back, causing gum recession which exposes a tooth’s sensitive layers that have less enamel.
Thus the oral bacteria gets more space to breed once the gum tissues are affected. When gum diseases progress and reach their advanced stage, it is hard to treat.
4) Salivary gland damage
Inhaling cigar compounds will cause dryness in the mouth. If you are a smoker, you will know it. Besides absorbing the saliva in the mouth, frequent smoking will cause inflammation in the oral membranes and can damage the salivary glands. It means inhaling toxic components in cigarettes can reduce the salivary flow regardless you smoke directly or simply stand near a smoker.
We have seen many kids who develop cavities even though their parents maintain proper oral hygiene for the kids. Mostly, it happens in those little champs as they are frequently exposed to secondhand smoke from their dads or closed ones. Many pediatric dentists found that regular secondhand smoke exposure will increase the risk of cavities in a kid if he/she inhales cigar compounds before becoming 4 months old.
Apart from kids, even adults can also develop various dental discomforts due to passive smoking. If you want to lower those risks, simply stand away from smokers and related fumes. Using air cleaners to keep the air free from cigarette smoke toxins.
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