Why dental Professionals Shouldn’t Neglect Talking about tobacco
Tobacco is one of the major causes of death in the US, taking almost half of a million lives, with 15% of adults and 20% of youth using to tobacco, and about 40% of children are regularly exposed to tobacco smoke.
Smoking and tobacco exposure actually puts you at a much higher risk for oral cancers, periodontal disease, and even tooth loss. Children that are exposed to this has a higher chance for dental caries, and the dental visit can screen and give a message to those children and adults using this.
Dental professionals play a critical role. Pediatric and adult dental care visits help the other person learn about tobacco, and tobacco exposure, support the cessation attempts and can help smokers protect their children and families from harmful exposure. Dental professionals should screen for use of tobacco and exposure during visits, and give the right counseling and resources and the screening should be delivered each time.
This is important because for most who use tobacco, even in just an e-cigarette, are actually very young, and understanding what happens when you’re exposed to tobacco products is just as important as stopping this. You should make sure that they’re using the correct behaviors as well, whether it be brushing twice daily, or other behaviors. The biggest thing to stop is to make sure that they do take the time to understand that tobacco can harm your teeth.
It does more than just cause tooth loss and periodontal disease though, it can cause your teeth to look yellowed and unsightly in some cases, and at worst, it can actually put you at risk for oral cancers, and you may not even realize that you have oral cancer until you go to the dentist and talk to them about it. The biggest thing to realize if this can happen to you at any time, and that’s the reason why dental professionals are super encouraging when it comes to working with those who want to have a better type of life and to cease the use of tobacco products.
Addiction isn’t something you can turn off necessarily. it’s very hard, and dentists do play a critical role in helping the person stop smoking. After all, if you don’t stop smoking now, you won’t be able to stop as easily later on. Children who smoke early tend to have an easier time to stop, since they aren’t as used to the habit as adults and older people are. But, getting anyone to stop smoking is super important and vital to the success of one’s oral health, which is why we encourage if you have issues, to go see a medical professional or dentist to help with this. They can get you on the right pathway to quitting this addiction and habit, and you’ll feel better, healthier, and your teeth will thank you immensely if you do this, that’s for sure. So stop today, to have a brighter tomorrow.
