Quitting Smoking

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Author:
R. Drysdale

For most of us, there's a clear correlation between bad breath and smoking: if you smoke, you will have an offensive tobacco odor on your breath that all non-smokers will detect if they are close enough. Of course, a tobacco odor also tends to linger on the clothes and hair of a smoker, so tobacco on the breath is probably not a very large issue. Surprisingly, however, there are more pieces of the puzzle that tie bad breath to smoking in other ways.

Smoking apparently inhibits saliva production. This is a problem because saliva plays an important role in inhibiting the multiplication of anaerobic bacteria, which live at the back of the tongue, and sometimes in spaces between teeth and gums, and between the teeth. These anaerobic bacteria (bacteria which live where there is no oxygen) produce volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) when they digest proteins for nutrients. So bad breath and smoking go hand in hand because smoking decreases saliva and a decrease in saliva results in an increase in VSC producing anaerobes in the mouth.

Smoking also increases the risk of gum disease and tooth decay. Smokers apparently have more cavities that non-smokers. They also have gums that tend to detach from the teeth and recede, leaving exposed roots and spaces between gums and teeth where those VSC producing bacteria can flourish. The roots of the teeth, which are supposed to be protected by healthy gums, are not covered with enamel, so they are more subject to tooth decay. In this scenario, bad breath and smoking result from an unhealthy mouth full of tooth decay, periodontal disease, and proliferating VSC producing bacteria.

It's not just bad breath and smoking that you need to worry about: other tobacco products carry similar risks. Pipe smoking and cigar smoking cause all the same problems as cigarette smoking, and chewing tobacco has all these and more. Smokeless tobacco frequently has sugar added to it, and may contain particles of grit, both of which have implications for oral health. The association between sugar and dental cavities is well known, and chewing on sand will put wear and tear on tooth enamel, also contributing to tooth decay.

So it's not just the odor of cigarette smoke on the breath and that brownish yellow stain on the teeth that you need to think about when you get close to someone else. The best solution is, of course, to quit smoking, but if you can't do that, use a good breath product that will help control the VSC producing bacteria that link bad breath and smoking. That will help a bit.

R. Drysdale is a freelance writer with more than 25 years experience as a health care professional. She is a contributing editor to Bad Breath and Smoking, a blog dedicated to the treatment of bad breath.

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Smoking... The truth and dangers of smoking Tobacco intake is the single most preventable cause of premature death in today’s times. Tobacco or nicotine is the chemical that narrows our blood vessels thereby reducing the life giving air that we intake, which in turn forces us to fight for that extra air. Why we are drawn towards smoking The younger generation of today’s times is the one, which is the most stricken by this deadly disease. The biggest reason for which is they are in a haste to prove them selves to be grownups and mature. A 13 yr old boy standing in the streets with his friends puffing the circles of smoke in air, feels he is mature and big enough to take his decisions and thinks that now it is that he has broken free from the shackles of his parents boundations which say that “smoking is injurious to health”. He does so in pure enjoyment and fun, not realizing that he is indeed letting the shackles of a deadly disease trap him and is not in fact breaking free from any. Hey! Boy, QUIT SMOKING, or else soon you will be in the clutches of the deadly disease. Ill effects of smoking It is smoking that triples the risk of dying from various heart diseases, bronchitis and emphysema. It is smoking that leads to asthma and lung cancer in many people. It is smoking that makes a person baffle for air 3 times more that a non-smoker. Smoking makes you weak and unfit for athletics and various other sports. Smoking makes people avoid you because it makes your hair and clothes stink. It stains your teeth and you have bad breath. Your lips are often cracked and you look pale. Is that what you call looking mature. No. So quit smoking because it will do no good to you. Smoking is a contagious disease because it not only weakens it victim but also those who are around him. This is better known as...