Aside from the generally well known overall health risk associated with smoking cigarettes, pipes and cigars, smokers experience many negative oral problems.

If you are a smoker and you choose to continue the habit, there are some steps you can take to minimize the oral consequences.

1. Try and have excellent oral hygiene, since it appears that smokers are more sensitive to the bacteria present in plaque as compared to non smokers. Probably, smokers have a “compromised” immune response.

2. Come in more often for dental cleanings(four times a year), since this will tend to keep your mouth healthier and you are less likely to experience periodontal disease.

3.Try cutting down on the number of cigarettes you smoke per day.  Sometimes chewing sugarless gum chewing can offer some oral satisfaction and definately  helps  release of tension.

4. Minimize your alcohol consumption, since combining alcohol and cigarettes definately increases your risks for developing oral and pharyngeal cancers.

Don’t assume that you will never be able to quit, since many people who have been unable to successfully quit do eventually succed.

Here are some pertinent links to other websites.

The Ada smoking cessation page:http://www.ada.org/public/topics/smoking_tobacco_faq.asp

Web MD oral health page: http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/smoking-oral-health

The Surgeon general’s website:http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/

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