Periodontitis – The Smoking Link

While anyone can suffer from periodontitis if they don’t look after their gums, smokers are generally at a much higher risk.

Regular readers of our blogs will hopefully be familiar with the need to look after their teeth well. Most of you are probably diligent about cleaning your teeth twice a day too. One area that does sometimes get neglected though is our gum health. Perhaps the TV adverts showing blood being spat into the sink has made us a little too complacent if we don’t happen to be experiencing that particular symptom. As some of you will be aware, there are many potential symptoms of gum disease and some cases might also be completely symptom free, indicating the need to have your oral health checked on a regular basis.

We will look at practical good oral health care that will help to ensure that your gums remain healthy a little later on. Before that though, let us take a look at why smokers are at particular risk.

The many perils of smoking

We know that smoking is a big contributor to health issues such as lung and heart disease.

While it also causes teeth to become discoloured; more seriously, it also greatly increases the likelihood of gum disease that can have lifelong implications for those that suffer from it.

Chemical damage – Some of the chemicals found in tobacco smoke are thought to directly affect the gum tissue. This can cause the gums to recede, leading to the creation of pockets where bacteria can collect.

Reduced blood flow to the gums – A reduction in blood flowing to the gums is harmful as the lack of oxygen arriving at the gums makes healing slower and also makes it more difficult for infections to be fought.

Dry mouth – Smokers tend to have a dryer mouth. This provides the ideal environment for potentially harmful bacteria to multiply.

Given the above factors, the most obvious thing to do to prevent problems like periodontitis is to quit smoking. Your GP may be able to help you with this.

General gum health care

This applies to all Blue Sky Dental patients, whether you are a smoker or not, but non smokers should not be complacent about the health of their gums either. Advanced gum disease not only produces some highly unpleasant symptoms such as sore and inflamed gums and halitosis, but can also cause teeth to become loose and, in some cases, fall out completely.

The good news is that keeping your gums in good health really isn’t that difficult to achieve

Gum care at home

As with your teeth, good care of your gums starts at home. Stopping smoking is obviously something very significant that you can do in order to help this but good basic daily care is also essential. This involves brushing your teeth correctly, making sure that the bristles angle towards the gums, helping to remove food particles and bacteria from beneath the gum line.

Making sure that you floss between your teeth as well is also key to good oral health. If you don’t currently do this, now is the time to start. If you find it difficult to do, make sure to ask our Chelmsford dental hygienist to demonstrate it for you.

Professional gum care

One thing that you definitely shouldn’t miss out on if you want to have healthy gums and a healthy mouth are regular appointments at the dental hygienist. For most people, these appointments will be six monthly. For those whose current condition is poor, there may be a period of three monthly appointments to get their gums back to good health before reverting to six monthly. Smokers and those with diabetes or other conditions which affect the immune system may need regular three monthly appointments in order to keep their mouth healthy.

During these appointments, your overall oral health care will be discussed including ways you might improve it, and you will also receive a scale and polish procedure. This is the only way to remove hardened bacteria and minerals which attach to the teeth and accelerate the likely onset of gum disease.

For those whose gum disease has already reached the periodontitis stage, a more invasive treatment known as root planing or scaling will be necessary. This is not always successful though and there is no guarantee that no teeth will be lost. For this reason, we always recommend earlier intervention with improved home care and scale and polish treatments carried out at Blue Sky Dental.

Given the importance and relative ease of keeping your gums healthy, why not take the first step now and book your appointment with the dental hygienist at our Chelmsford dental clinic. You can do so by calling us today on 01245 211070.