How does smoking affect a person's language?
Smoking has a detrimental effect on the entire oral cavity, nasopharynx, bronchi and lungs.
Keep in mind! All mucous membranes are affected by toxic hot smoke. First of all, the tongue is negatively affected.
Nicotine affects the sensitivity of taste buds, which leads to a significant decrease in the sense of taste of food.
Medical studies have proven that smokers and non-smokers have significantly different taste sensitivity thresholds.
This indicates that nicotine contributes to the morphological and functional restructuring of taste buds.
Taste buds not only help you enjoy the taste of food, but also influence the process of salivation, digestion, and the secretion of gastric juice.
What signs of plaque can be identified and what color is it?
Plaque on the tongue is a deposit in the form of bacteria . The plaque layer can be thin or dense.
The color and density of plaque may indicate the presence of certain diseases, so a sudden change in it will help monitor your health.
It is worth noting! In a healthy non-smoker, the plaque is most often thin and white in color. On a smoker's tongue, it most often has a dense texture and can be yellow or gray.
Gradually, the coating on the smoker’s tongue becomes denser, and the color darkens from the effects of nicotinic acid, which is present in cigarette smoke.
This type of plaque is difficult to remove; in smokers it has an unpleasant odor.
The effect of smoking on dental health
In the production of cigarettes, nicotine, tar, and chemical components are used, which settle in the micropores of the teeth, clog them and gradually change their shade from white to yellow and brown. The more a person smokes, the worse their teeth look. Nicotine and other substances in cigarettes disrupt blood circulation in the oral cavity and create favorable conditions for the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms. Long-term smoking greatly weakens local immunity, thereby contributing to the development of not only caries, but also gingivitis, stomatitis and diseases of the ENT organs.
First, a yellow coating appears on a smoker’s teeth, mainly near the necks of the teeth, where stone most often forms.
Over time, brown plaque forms on teeth. They contain a large number of cariogenic microorganisms that produce acid and destroy tooth enamel.
This is why plaque on teeth after smoking cannot be ignored. If you cannot get rid of it at home, you need to seek help from a dentist. Statistics speak volumes about the impact of smoking on oral health: 40% of smokers aged 60-65 years are forced to use dentures due to the absence of most of their teeth.
Smoker's plaque: photo
The photo shows examples of the tongue of a healthy person and smokers:
Healthy tongue
How to get rid of plaque?
You can fight the coating on your tongue from smoking.
To do this, you need to monitor oral hygiene and brush your teeth, cheeks and tongue daily .
The following products can be used to clean the mouth :
- Toothbrush.
- Tea spoon.
- Gauze or bandage wrapped around a finger.
- A special scraper for removing plaque, which can be bought at a pharmacy.
- Special toothpaste for smokers.
Vegetable oil is also used to cleanse the tongue .
Preferably olive or flaxseed, since these types of oils not only help remove plaque, but also care for the oral mucosa.
They have antifungal and antibacterial properties, and also heal microtraumas.
Need to know! The procedure for cleansing the oral cavity with oil is carried out in the morning before breakfast.
To do this, you need to pour one tablespoon of oil into your mouth and dangle it there for at least ten minutes. After which the oil is spat out.
Which type of smoking causes more plaque?
The man came in for routine professional hygiene. Since he smokes, plaque forms quite quickly, is dark in color and causes bad breath. Smoker's plaque is difficult to remove with home remedies. To get rid of plaque and tartar, a man visits a hygienist every six months. After hygiene, teeth are perfectly clean.
About 5 months ago, instead of regular cigarettes, I started smoking an electronic cigarette, IQOS, because I heard that it was less harmful. Knowing that the Dial-Dent clinic database stores photographs from previous visits, the man decided to check whether smoking an IQOS e-cigarette actually has fewer negative effects on health, for example, on dental health.
The hygienist applied a plaque indicator to the teeth and compared photos of the teeth before hygiene, taken during the last visit and now:
The photographs show that plaque on teeth from smoking has begun to form to a lesser extent, but there is no talk of safe smoking of electronic cigarettes; the smoker’s plaque is still there.
Conclusion:
Smoking an iqos electronic cigarette reduces the formation of smoker's plaque, but does not eliminate it completely.
What should be done to prevent plaque?
Prevention includes daily oral hygiene .
For preventive purposes, you can use mouthwashes with antibacterial properties .
Rinsing with a decoction of chamomile, sage and oak , as well as chewing propolis, are useful. These agents have a strong antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect.
Rinsing with soda solution also gives a good effect.
How to remove plaque from smoking on teeth and tongue
Smoking is certainly a bad habit that has a very negative effect on the condition of the oral cavity. The teeth of people who smoke acquire a yellow coating due to harmful substances contained in tobacco smoke, which settle on the teeth and create plaque. Smokers also often suffer from bad breath.
An unpleasant yellow plaque not only looks unsightly, but can also cause the development of diseases of the teeth, oral cavity, and the development of chronic diseases. For example, the accumulation of plaque can cause the formation of hard plaque at the roots - tartar. As a result, the accumulation of harmful bacteria can cause inflammation of the tooth roots and the development of caries.
Sometimes even dental care cannot save you from the unpleasant consequences of smoking.
Dentist advice
If you are one of the “smokers”, then we would like to give you some important dental recommendations to improve the health of your teeth and gums.
Dry lips (decreased salivation). Be sure to use hygienic lipstick or at least apply baby cream to your lips. It is especially important to apply this in winter and windy weather. This way you will moisturize your lips and restore their protective function.
The occurrence of gingivitis and stomatitis. Take vitamins A and E. Also use mouthwash after each cigarette and try to drink plenty of water.
Tooth enamel deteriorates. You will have to brush your teeth more often, use a more abrasive toothpaste and use special toothbrushes that have an increased number of bristles and are also impregnated with calcium carbonates to enhance the whitening effect.
How to remove plaque from smoking on teeth
Follow these tips:
- Visit your dental office regularly for checkups (at least twice a year),
- Brush your teeth regularly (two, or preferably three times a day),
- Choose suitable positions for you (with gentle whitening) and a toothbrush (medium hardness),
- Rinse your mouth after eating and smoking, use dental floss,
- Eat right: more vegetables, fruits, less carbohydrates and especially sweets,
- Carry out professional teeth cleaning in dentistry, teeth whitening if necessary,
- As additional factors, use traditional methods, but very carefully (consult your dentist).
How to remove plaque from smoking on your tongue
- Use a toothbrush to brush your tongue while brushing your teeth. The tongue accumulates plaque in the same way as teeth and gums.
- For preventive purposes, you can use mouthwashes with antibacterial properties.
- Rinsing with a decoction of chamomile, sage and oak, as well as chewing propolis, are useful.
- Rinsing with a soda solution has a good effect.
How to remove plaque from smoking at home
It is possible to remove plaque from smoking at home, however, this process is very lengthy and mistakes can cause chips on the enamel.
The most common advice is to whiten tooth enamel with soda, activated carbon and hydrogen peroxide.
Do we recommend such methods? No. The fact is that these methods must be used very carefully and only after diagnosing the condition of your enamel in the dental office. Soda can cause a large number of microcracks on the surface of the teeth, which can subsequently cause the development of caries. Activated carbon is a more gentle method due to its less aggressiveness, but it must also be used carefully. Acid also reduces the thickness of enamel, making teeth more susceptible to damage.
Lemon, tea tree oil, wood ash, strawberries and even honey are also recommended as alternative methods. It makes sense to consider these methods only as auxiliary means that can help get rid of plaque.
Dentists recommend choosing the right toothpastes. We do not recommend using very aggressive whitening pastes. Also, do not abuse such means - use them often. If you use a whitening paste, alternate its use with classic restorative pastes. This way you will reduce the risks of reducing the protection of tooth enamel.
The same can be said about special whitening products in the form of a tray, tape or paste. They should only be used after consultation with your dentist.
Cleaning teeth from plaque and tartar
Professional teeth cleaning should be done at least twice a year. Dental clinic INNOVASTOM offers three-stage teeth cleaning.
In just 40 minutes, we will not only remove “smoker’s plaque” and tartar, but also return your teeth to your natural teeth color.
After brushing your teeth, you will undergo a dental fluoridation procedure using a special mouth guard and a composition with a high fluoride content. Just 10 minutes and the tooth and gum tissues will be saturated with important microelements to strengthen the enamel and the health of your teeth.
Teeth whitening
A teeth whitening procedure at a dental clinic will definitely rid your teeth of the unpleasant yellowness.
At INNOVASTOM, teeth whitening is carried out using a Beyond Polus lamp . This method is one of the most effective and modern, at the same time one of the safest, since the integrity of the enamel and dental tissues is preserved. In addition, each patient of our clinic, after the teeth whitening procedure, receives a set of special trays for whitening at home. Wearing these aligners for just a few hours a day will allow you to maintain a snow-white smile for a long time.
The teeth whitening procedure is carried out only after professional teeth cleaning in order to achieve an effective result.
But the teeth whitening procedure is a temporary solution that will rid you of plaque for several months if you continue to actively smoke and do not follow preventive measures to combat yellowness and plaque.
Follow the advice, contact your dentist for a consultation, and have your teeth cleaned and whitened on time. Well, we will help you with this!
Can smoking cause tongue cancer?
When smoking, the tongue is the first organ to take the blow in the form of hot tobacco smoke, which contains many toxic substances.
With such regular and frequent attacks, the oral cavity and tongue receive injuries in the form of burns .
As a result, small nodules appear , as well as other neoplasms, which over time have the ability to degenerate into cancer.
Primary and secondary signs
You should know! Cancer of the uvula is poorly diagnosed, since clear symptoms of the disease appear only in the later stages.
It is worth noting that this type of cancer develops quickly and causes many serious complications.
Symptoms of the initial stage of the disease are almost invisible.
The insidiousness of the disease lies in the fact that there are no obvious signs until the late stages of the disease begin .
Usually it all starts with the appearance of an ulcer , compaction or nodules on the tongue .
At the early stage of a malignant neoplasm, the boundaries of the nodules that appear on the tongue are clearly defined.
Later, as the disease progresses, the boundaries of such formations become more blurred, the tissue under the ulcer thickens , and its edges rise and resemble a roller in appearance.
Later, pain, swelling of the face, and difficulty opening the mouth and eating appear.
Classification of cancer of this organ by localization:
Uvula body cancer
This type of cancer is the most common .
Know! A malignant tumor affects the middle part and can often affect its lateral areas.
Tongue root cancer
If the root of this organ is affected when swallowing, severe pain is felt in its area .
This type of cancer is less common than its previous type.
The disease also has another name - oropharyngeal cancer , in which the tumor is located in the posterior parts of the oral cavity.
The pathology has an aggressive course and is difficult to treat.
Cancer of the lower part of the tongue
With this pathology, the tumor is located on the lower part of the uvula. In rare cases, it may be located under the tongue.
Note! Histological differentiation of cancer types:
- Adenocarcinoma;
- Squamous cell carcinoma.
There are three main types of tongue cancer tumors :
- Ulcerative. This form begins with a lump that appears on the tongue, which soon becomes an ulcer. The patient experiences pain and the ulcer bleeds.
- Infiltrative. The new growth that appears is hard to the touch. Its surface is covered with whitish spots. The patient experiences severe pain in this area.
- Papillary. The neoplasm is hard, has dense plaques and protrudes above the surrounding healthy tissue.
