Smile with Confidence: A Comprehensive Guide to Dental Health and Care

Oral Cancer

Common Dental Questions, dental care questions and answers, dental health tips, cosmetic and restorative dentistry, dental technology, ask a dentist about oral cancer

What Does Smoking Do to Teeth?

A cigarette loosely tangling from your mouth, or cinched between your teeth, is a menacing look to be sure.  But, just in case you were wondering, smoking is also a menace to your teeth, besides your general health.

We all know smoking is bad for your health, and, we did not have to read the warning label on the side of the pack to know this fact.  There are public service announcements galore which point to the fact that smoking causes cancer.

Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, and, about 70 of them are known to cause cancer.  The number one risk of smoking cigarettes is lung cancer, but, smoking is known to affect your entire body.  Did you know it can also affect your oral health as well?

How to Clean The Tongue

To keep your mouth healthy and avoid committing the dreaded social blunder of having halitosis, otherwise known as “bad breath”, dentists recommend that you do the following:

  • Brush your teeth twice daily
  • Floss at least once per day
  • Use a tongue brush or scraper daily.

So, what the heck is a tongue scraper, and, furthermore – why did my dentist never recommend doing this?

Well, the concept has been around for a long time; in fact, tongue cleaning was performed by the Romans, and was recorded in Europe back in the 18th and 19th centuries.

What Teeth say about Overall Health

Next time you visit your dentist you may tell him more about yourself than you realize. Your dentist might learn a lot about your overall health simply by performing a routine dental exam. A client who has teeth that the enamel has worn down on might be stressed out and grinding their teeth during the night. Your teeth, gums and the tissues found in the mouth can share a lot about the state of your overall health. Sometimes the dentist might be the first health care professional who warns you of health conditions. Here are a few things your mouth might be saying about you.

Dental Care for Smokers

It’s no secret that smoking has its accompanying problems, not the least of which is challenges with dental hygiene. The use of any and all tobacco products can lead to teeth that are dull, discolored, and decayed, especially if a good oral hygiene routine is not observed. But the truth is that a good oral hygiene routine is only the half of it. If you’re a smoker, you need to go above and beyond in your dental hygiene regimen just to keep up with the folks who don’t use tobacco products at all. Here are some tips from family dentists and throughout the country for smokers and users of other tobacco products about going the extra mile to keep your teeth healthy.

How to Prevent Oral Cancer

In a recent 30-year study done by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and the American Cancer Society, it was reported that overall cancer deaths in the U.S. were on the decline. However, this is not true for all types of cancer. While instances of some types of canworse than ever, with many oral cancer sufferers surviving less than 5 years post diagnosis. Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital recently reported that cancers affecting the tongue, tonsils, soft palate, and back of the throat have increased nearly 60 percent in the past 40 years for those 44 and younger. This distressing prognosis is proof that everyone throughout the country needs to get serious about taking steps necessary to prevent this disease. Following are the symptoms of oral cancer to watch out for, as well as vital proactive preventions that can be taken.