Tobacco Use and Your Mouth
Tobacco can be smoked, such as cigarettes, cigars, or pipe; or
smokeless (spit), such as chewing tobacco or snuff. Tobacco use can cause mouth
problems, such as:
- Bad breath.
- Blocked salivary
glands.
- Buildup of dental tartar (calculus), which leads to
cavities (dental caries).
- Wearing down of the biting surfaces of
the teeth, especially the cusps.
- Receding gums and tooth
loss.
- Gum disease (periodontitis), or "trench mouth" (acute necrotizing ulcerative
gingivitis).
- Stained teeth, dentures, and
fillings.
- Decreased sense of smell and taste.
- Delayed
healing of mouth wounds.
- Development of thick, hard, white patches
inside the mouth (leukoplakia).
- Development of an overgrowth of the
hairlike rough surface of the tongue (hairy tongue).
- Sore and
tender roof of the mouth ("smoker's palate").
- Oral cancer, which is most commonly found on the lips, the tongue, the lining
of the cheeks, the gums, the floor of the mouth, the roof of the mouth, and the
area behind the wisdom teeth.
Credits
| By | Healthwise Staff |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | William H. Blahd, Jr., MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | David Messenger, MD |
| Last Revised | July 20, 2012 |