With braces, can you smoke?
Having braces is one of the most popular ways to align and straighten your teeth in order to give you a smile you’re proud of. However, a patient’s lifestyle can sometimes limit their success and this is particularly true of smokers.
Smoking has a number of detrimental effects on your life and health, however from a dental perspective, it can also cause serious damage to dental treatments and your oral health.
For braces to be effective they need the tissue and bone in your mouth to be clean and healthy, and consequently smoking can cause adverse issues. The nicotine released by cigarettes can start by causing staining your teeth and brace, which may ruin the aesthetics of the brace, whilst the tobacco also contributes to issues relating to gum disease.
Gum disease manifests itself as bleeding but if untreated and severe, may lead to bone loss and tooth damage thus effecting the brace and limiting their success.
Receding gums and tooth decayThe lay term for carious lesions in a tooth; decomposition of tooth structure. caused by smoking can also affect the alignment of the brace making the brace uncomfortable and less likely to deliver optimal results. Simply put, smoking may cause problems not only to the smile you are attempting to rectify but also require further treatment which is likely to prove costly.
Therefore, dentists recommend refraining from smoking whilst wearing braces, as well as avoiding any potential situations which could see you be tempted into smoking. It is imperative that you take care of your braces, ensuring that they are clean and maintained in good conditions, and removing cigarettes from your lifestyle is a keyway of doing this.
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