Smoking Does More Than Hurt Your Lungs

Smoking Does More Than Hurt Your LungsSmoking, like alcohol, is one of those vices that is still 100% legal in the United States today, but it is by no means good for you, especially with regard to your personal health. Most people concentrate on the effects of smoking on your lungs, and how this can eventually lead to the possibility of lung cancer.

But before smoking ever affects your lungs, it’s already doing work on your mouth, and it makes the job of your cosmetic dentist in Long Island that much harder.

A Challenge For Your Appearance

For anyone that cares a lot about their physical appearance, especially their mouth, smoking adds some extra, unnecessary obstacles for both you and your cosmetic dentist in Long Island for maintaining a pleasing, white set of teeth. Smoking inevitably stains teeth, meaning that if you insist on smoking, you’re resigning yourself to using more abrasive toothpaste to keep your teeth looking white between dental visits.

Unfortunately, you’re also exposing your gums and teeth to toxic substances on a regular basis. This leaves your gums more vulnerable to gum disease, like gingivitis and periodontitis, which can cause gums to bleed, inflame and recede. It can also lead to some forms of cancer in the mouth.

Of course, smoking is, ultimately, a personal choice. A cosmetic dentist in Long Island can only advise, not force actions on a person. But if you do decide that you want to smoke, you have to accept that if you also care about the appearance of your mouth, you are making things more challenging for yourself than necessary. A higher level of expense and maintenance will be required to keep a mouth looking as clean and attractive for a smoker compared to someone who doesn’t. If you want to put more emphasis on your general and oral health, think about quitting smoking, and enjoy the health benefits and lower maintenance efforts.