Kick the habit: how our dental clinic can help with smoking cessation

Are you struggling to quit smoking? You’re not alone. Millions of people grapple with this addiction, and it can be tricky to find the right support for smoking cessation Essex. As a local dental clinic, we are dedicated to improving the overall health of our patients, and that includes helping them quit smoking with smoking cessation Essex. We will discuss the various ways we can assist you on your journey to becoming smoke-free.

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The connection between oral health and smoking

Smoking is a significant risk factor for oral health issues, including gum disease, tooth loss, and oral cancer. When you smoke, harmful chemicals build up in your mouth, leading to inflammation, infection, and tissue damage. By quitting, you can significantly reduce your risk of these dental problems and improve your overall oral health.

How our dental clinic can help you quit smoking

  1. Comprehensive oral health evaluation: The first step in your journey to quitting smoking is understanding the impact it has had on your oral health. Our dental team will perform a comprehensive examination, assess your oral health, and identify any smoking-related issues that may require treatment.
  2. Personalised plan: There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to quitting smoking, so our dental team will work with you to develop a personalised plan tailored to your unique needs and goals. This plan may include a combination of behavioural strategies, medication, and ongoing support.
  3. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT): NRT can be an effective tool for reducing nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms, making it easier for you to quit smoking. Our dental team can recommend and prescribe the most suitable NRT products for your situation, such as nicotine gum, patches, or lozenges.
  4. Oral health care education: We believe that education is key to maintaining a healthy mouth and a smoke-free life. Our dental team will provide you with information on proper oral hygiene practices, the risks of smoking, and the benefits of quitting.
  5. Ongoing support and encouragement: Quitting smoking is a challenging process, and having a strong support system is crucial. Our dental team is there for you throughout your journey, offering encouragement, guidance, and resources to help you stay smoke-free.

The benefits of quitting smoking for your oral health

Quitting smoking will have a profound impact on your oral health, and here are 5 that you need to consider.

Reduced risk of gum disease

Smoking weakens your immune system, making it more difficult for your body to fight off infections. Quitting smoking can help improve your immune system and reduce your risk of developing gum disease.

Improved breath and taste

Smoking can cause bad breath and reduce your sense of taste. Once you quit, you’ll notice that your breath becomes fresher and your ability to taste food improves.

Lowered risk of oral cancer

Smoking is a leading cause of oral cancer. By quitting, you can significantly decrease your risk of developing this life-threatening disease.

Healthier smile

Smoking can cause tooth discolouration and loss. When you quit, you’ll be able to maintain a whiter, healthier smile.

Schedule an appointment today

If you’re ready to quit smoking and improve your oral health, our dental clinic is here to support you, each and every step of the way with smoking cessation Essex. Quitting smoking is a challenging but rewarding journey. You can overcome your addiction and enjoy the numerous benefits of a smoke-free life.

Smoking Cessation- how we can help

Tobacco can have a very significant effect on your oral health. Lets look into what we’re doing to help our patients with smoking cessation Essex, and what restoration options are available. smoking-cessation-essex

Dental impact of smoking

There are very well established links between poor oral health and long-term smoking, which have become a key part of anti-smoking imagery on tobacco products today. Nicotine and many of the other products of combustion encourage vasoconstriction, the tightening of the blood vessels. Both nicotine and various forms of tar are absorbed through the tissues of the mouth and throat, not just in cigarettes but this is actually more so with cigar smokers, who hold the smoke in their mouth for extended periods of time. The tightening of the blood vessels in gum tissue reduces  blood flow and oxygen too. Over time, gum tissue begins to die and recedes exposing more of the vulnerable cementing (the outer coating of the roots).

This then exposes nerves to damage and can cause sensitivity to hot and cold. But this usually affects the front teeth significantly more than the edges of the mouth, which has a significant impact on your overall appearance.

Dental staining is the first sign of dental damage. There is variety in the extent of the staining depending on how you hold the cigarette when smoking. Most of the surface stains can be brushed off, but over time it will become ingrained, tartar will more often pick up, staining far quicker than enamel.

Whitening treatments

There are chemical and abrasion methods that can significantly reduce the signs of tobacco use as part of smoking cessation Essex,  but it’s best to start with a thorough scale and polish. This allows any stains and tartar to be removed, which could make up the majority of the darkening.  After this, calcified plaque is removed and your teeth have a smooth surface. Traditional gel whitening techniques can be used to achieve the desired shade. Bringing your pearly whites back to pearly white.

Restoring gum health

Gum tissue can be recovered. Depending on the scale of the recession, it will be very challenging to recover gum tissue if the patient continues to smoke. We therefore highly recommend that those who have the start of gum disease, quit smoking or at least move to non-tobacco sources of nicotine.

It not only gives minor recession the opportunity to recover but allows gum transplants to be considered, which are more likely to succeed if you are not smoking.

Cancer screening

Cancer screening is a standard part of a 6-month dental check-up and our smoking cessation Essex. This is particularly useful for smokers, as mouth cancers are one of the most common forms of smoking-related tumours, with dentists usually being the first practitioners to notice.

If an area of suspicious tissue is noted during your examination, you’ll be informed to follow up with your regular physician; this should not be considered a diagnosis, just an indication that looking into it further is required. This permits early intervention and maximises the chances of full recovery.

Need help with smoking cessation in Essex?

You are probably aware of the negative effects of smoking on your overall health and wellbeing. It is the role of a dentist to be able to offer you support and guidance when it comes to smoking cessation in Essex due to the vast complications that smoking can cause and the impact that it can have on your oral health.

smoking-cessation-essexWe know of many studies that have shown that smoking and using other tobacco related products do have a detrimental impact on the health of your teeth and gums. One of the biggest issues that occurs is that tobacco affects your gum tissue cells, making you more prone to infection and diseases.

Smoking cessation in Essex is an opportunity for you to be able to gain more control over your health and wellbeing. We know that you cannot be forced into choosing to quit smoking, but we simply want you to know that we are non-judgemental, understanding and available whenever you need us to be.

The support is a way to improve your health in a number of other ways as well, as there are more negative impacts of smoking to your oral health that need to be considered. These effects of smoking include the presence of mouth sores, a decreased sense of taste and smell, stained teeth, bad breath and jawbone loss.

All of these concerns have knock-on effects that can be seriously detrimental to your overall health and wellbeing as well. It is not only dentists who are urging individuals to consider quitting smoking.

How can we help you to quit smoking?

Smoking cessation in Essex can be approached in a number of ways so that you can feel comfortable with your individual progress. We can provide you with a vast range of different sources, techniques and equipment that can encourage you to reduce the amount of cigarettes that you smoke per day.

We can put you in contact with specifically trained professionals who are able to follow up and keep you motivated on your journey. We also understand that it is motivating to see positive results, so if you have reduced the amount that you smoke or have quit altogether, make sure that you come in to see us so that we can discover the changes in your oral health for the better.

We are confident that you will discover a range of changes in your mouth quite quickly after you give up smoking. Getting your sense of taste and smell back is one of the first improvements, as is the reduction of bad breath and having a ‘furry’ tongue.

We look forward to helping you on this journey towards giving up smoking, improving your oral health as well as your overall health and wellbeing. Remember, we are only here to guide and support you and allow you to make decisions on your own. Regardless of your commitment to the process, we will always be available for non-judgemental and quality care regarding the health of your teeth and gums.

Why do we care whether or not you smoke?

You’d think it would be no skin off our noses at Crofts Dental Practice in Essex if you smoke or not, so why do we offer smoking cessation help? After all, we’re not your GP.

Well, smoking affects the entire body and it particularly shows up in the mouth, affecting the gums and teeth.

Smoking Cessation in EssexSmoking and cancer

Mouth cancers include cancers of the lip, tongue, salivary glands, throat as well as the mouth itself. And tobacco use is the top risk factor for oral cancers. You may not know you have oral cancer, as the first symptoms often don’t hurt. They show up as strange lumps or numb patches, toothache or a feeling that something has got stuck in your throat.

Smoking and gum disease

Gum disease is not just about dental plaque giving off acids that attack the gums and tooth roots. Smoking also has a big part to play in it. This is because the bacteria that cause gum disease are present in higher amounts in smokers’ mouths.

Also, when you smoke you have lower levels of components that play an important part in the way the body’s immune system works. The result is that you are more likely to get inflamed gums, and lose more collagen and bone.

Smoking constricts the blood vessels and so the blood is less able to get to the gums to keep them healthy.

And if that wasn’t enough to put you off, if you do get gum disease and you smoke, you won’t heal from treatment as well.

All this means that you are more likely to lose teeth to gum disease than an ex-smoker or a non-smoker.

Are you less kissable too?

If you smoke, unless your partner is also a smoker, you are less kissable. Your teeth stain easily, your breath smells and your tongue is coated. If you are dating, stopping smoking widens your choice of partner.

Smoking cessation at Crofts Dental Practice

We can offer you a free consultation on smoking cessation. Advice and support can make all the difference to stopping. So, come on in and let’s get you on track to a healthier, happier mouth.

It’s a funny thing, smoking

If you have never been a smoker, you must wonder why it is so very hard to stop. All you can see is money going up in smoke, grey faces, yellow fingers and that overwhelmingly noxious smell of fag smoke. If you have been, or are, a smoker, you know that no amount of disgust registered on the faces of the saintly non-smokers around you is going to make you stop.

Smoking Cessation in EssexMaybe you have tried time again to give up tobacco, but each time you have a crisis, you run to the garage for another pack of cigarettes or rolling tobacco. And, everything is a crisis when you first stop smoking.

It can be a whole lot easier to stop the evil weed if you have someone on your side to talk to, offer advice on coping mechanisms for those early days and cheer you on when the going gets tough.

Here at Crofts Dental Practice in Essex, we get to see plenty of mouths and what smoking does to them. We see the shrinking gums, stained teeth, and hairy tongue. We treat the gum disease and infections that are exacerbated by the fact that smoking stops oxygen getting to the gums. We hear about how our patients can’t taste or smell things like they used to. And we upset people when we tell them they can’t have dental implants because smoking has caused jawbone loss.

Can we help you?

Did you know we offer support for smoking cessation in Essex here at Crofts Dental Practice? We can give you information on the best ways to stop smoking and how to get hold of products that can help you quit. We can also offer you something that will make it much easier for you to stop smoking: support.

We understand that it’s highly unlikely that you will manage to stop the first time you give up. It usually takes about four attempts to quit, but some people have to try over and over again before they finally manage it. After all, if you are used to dealing with life with a ciggie in your hand, getting through the ups and downs without one is going to take practice.

Smoking cessation in Essex

In the UK, the number of smokers has decreased in recent years but the prevalence is still high in some parts of the country. Smoking is largely responsible for a considerable loss in quantity and quality of life. Given its role as a major risk factor for heart disease and in various types of cancers, it is really important for dentists to intervene and educate their patients on how to control, reduce and eventually quit smoking.

Smoking Cessation in EssexAt Crofts Dental Practice in Essex, we are aware of how bad smoking is for your oral health and overall health. Use of tobacco has been linked to the development of oral diseases including cancer and gum disease. Other consequences of smoking include bad breath, yellowed teeth, jawbone deterioration, receding gums, mouth sores, decreased senses of taste and smell and poor healing of mouth sores. In addition to that, smokers have higher levels of dental plaque and suffer from cavities and tooth decay more frequently than non-smokers. For all these reasons, we support our patients in smoking cessation.

As dental professionals, we understand the importance of proper education on the risks of smoking. Quitting smoking can have an immediate effect on your oral and general health. However, we understand that this can be quite challenging for many people, therefore, we encourage you to visit us regularly. This way we can help you maintain good oral health and offer you advice and encouragement.

If you have decided to quit smoking, our experienced dentists will discuss your goals, educate you on various smoking cessation methods and help you decide which the right treatment for you. Nicotine gum, patches, inhalers and sprays are only some nicotine replacement therapies are only some of your options. These treatments work by giving you controlled amounts of nicotine without the use of tobacco. Your dentist may also prescribe medication to help you with smoking cravings and symptoms from withdrawal. Generally, using a combination of smoking cessation methods may prove more effective in the long-run.

No matter which method you choose, we are here to influence you to reduce or quit smoking and other tobacco-related behaviours. If you are concerned about aesthetic problems associated with smoking, we are happy to help you improve the appearance of your smile with professional teeth whitening, porcelain veneers or crowns.