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Don’t Underestimate Smokeless Tobacco

Posted by: Dr. Sirakian     Categories: Uncategorized

It’s common knowledge that smoking affects your oral health, but let’s not forget about smoking’s destructive counterpart: smokeless chewing tobacco (also known as “snuff”). For those of you who are unfamiliar with this, snuff is a fine grain tobacco that a user places in their mouth between their lips and gums. As saliva generates, the user spits out (instead of swallowing) the saliva tainted black from the tobacco. The result? The user feels the effects immediately as the nicotine goes directly into the blood stream, along with hundreds of carcinogens.

Unlike smoking, where carcinogens are present while inhaling, smokeless tobacco is a constant application of carcinogens siting in one spot for an extended period of time. If tobacco were fire, snuff would be like sticking your hands directly in the flame.

Snuff can harm your health in a number of ways. Everything from tooth discoloration, throat and gum disease, lung and oral cancers, and in some untreated cases, death. The greatest and most common concern for snuff users is gum cancer. The common warning signs are scaly patterns on the inside of the mouth or lips and red sores. If left untreated or undetected, the condition will develop into oral cancer.

So what can you do to avoid developing a serious illness? The first is obvious: stop the habit all together! We know, that’s a lot easier said than done. Try going the route of nicotine patches or gum. You’ll provide your body with the nicotine it craves, while not damaging your oral health. You can also visit your dentist frequently. The ADA recommends that smokeless tobacco users see their dentist more often than normal. Frequent trips to the dentist will help you keep an eye out for oral lesions that may later develop.

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Beware of Brushing?

Too much brushing can’t hurt, right? Not exactly. The American Dental Association recommends that everyone brushes their teeth at least twice per day. If you’re especially keen about taking perfect care of your teeth, maybe you brush after meals too—be warned: there is a right way to do this. Researchers have discovered that brushing too […]

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What Challenges Do Adults With Braces Face?

It used to be pretty rare for anyone other than teenagers to have braces, but in today’s society, everyone with a crooked tooth or an overbite has the option to get it corrected with adult braces. Adults have a wider array of orthodontic appliances available to them that make the process more streamlined and less […]

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Why Do Some Healthy Foods Cause Tooth Decay?

According to a BBC article, one British mother was very unhappy when her five-year-old son needed a tooth pulled. Like many parents, she rarely gave her son soda or fruit juice and couldn’t understand how his teeth had gotten so bad. After asking her dentist, it turned out that the culprit was actually a “healthy” […]

Nov
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Chew on This: Smaller Bites for Optimal Health

Although our parents always told us to take small bites and to take our time chewing food, we often forget about this sound advice as we wolf down meals in a our fast paced lives. Hopefully, understanding the damage that this may cause can remind us to be more mindful during our next meal. Lacerations […]

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The Steps to Becoming a Dentist

If you’ve ever thought that a career in dentistry might be right for you, then read this! To become a dentist, you have to be willing to complete multiple years of school and be patient enough to work with people. How it starts: Complete a bachelors degree Completing a bachelor’s degree is step one in […]

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