As well as being bad for your health in general, smoking tobacco products such as cigarettes, pipes or cigars has negative effects on your dental health. Smoking affects the gum tissue cells, which means that smokers are more likely to develop gum and periodontal diseases.
Smoking also stains the teeth and can cause bad breath, shrinking gums, sores in the mouth and even jaw bone loss. It is also the lead cause of mouth cancer, which kills about 2,700 people in the UK every year and has a high proportion of number of deaths per number of cases diagnosed, because of late diagnosis.
Many people who smoke would like to give up, or at least cut down. At Benhill Dental Practice we understand how difficult this can be, which is why we offer a smoking cessation service to help those interested in quitting or cutting down to reach their goal.
There are many products available to help you cut down or give up smoking. It’s important to find the best product or products to suit your personal needs and lifestyle, and our smoking cessation service can help you find the best option. Many of these products help to reduce nicotine cravings by delivering nicotine in another way.
Choices include:
- Nicotine patches – heavy smokers may benefit by staring out with a 24-hour patch
- Inhalators – these resemble plastic cigarettes and enable you to inhale nicotine
- Nicotine chewing gum
- Lozenges or strips – placed under the tongue to combat nicotine cravings
- Mouth and nasal sprays
The best option for you will depend on your individual needs, and we will be able to help you discover what may work well for you. Some patients find it beneficial to combine two or more options to help them kick the habit for good.
To find out how we can help you to give up or cut down on smoking, get in touch with a member of our team today.