Smoking and Oral Health

Most people are aware of the health problems that can occur if you smoke or chew tobacco, but your lungs and heart are not the only things that can be affected if you light up.

According to your Dentist in Chicago, Dr. Genaro Romo, smoking can have a lasting and distinctive impact on your oral health and can lead to some serious dental issues including, but not limited to: 

• Tooth discoloration
• Halitosis
• Salivary gland inflammation on the roof of your mouth
• Bone loss in your jaw
• Build up of tartar and plaque
• Increased risk of white patches, or leukoplakia on the inside of your mouth
• Gum disease
• Delayed healing after periodontal treatment or extractions
• Lower dental implant success rate
• Higher risk of oral cancer

Smoking, even with pipes and cigars, can lead to gum disease as it affects the soft tissue around your teeth. According to your Chicago Dentist, smoking will interfere with normal gum tissue cell function making you much more susceptible to infections. Smoking can also impair the blood flow to your gums.

Just like cigarettes, cigar and pipe smoking can cause dental problems. A study conducted by the American Dental Association, showed that cigar smokers experience bone loss and tooth loss at the same rate as cigarette smokers. Pipe smokers and cigar smokers are also susceptible to throat cancers even though they do not inhale.

If you chew tobacco, you are not safe either. Snuff contains at least 30 chemicals that can increase your risk of throat and oral cancer. Your Dentist in Chicago will tell you that chewing tobacco products contain more nicotine than cigarettes making it more difficult to quit. Most people have no idea that one can of chewing tobacco has as much, if not more, nicotine than sixty cigarettes. Smokeless tobacco will irritate your gum tissue. This causes your gums to pull away or recede. Once this occurs the exposed roots become more sensitive to irritants making drinking and eating uncomfortable.

If that isn’t enough, your Dr. Romo will tell you that flavors are added to some brands of chewing tobacco in order to improve the taste. Those flavors contain sugar that can drastically increase tooth decay. In fact, a study by the ADA has shown that those who chew tobacco are four times more likely to develop tooth decay.

Talk to your doctor about smoking cessation and don’t forget to schedule an appointment with the best Dentist in Chicago, Dr. Romo. 

Is Your Breath Ready for Holiday Parties?

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, but if you suffer from bad breath those holiday party invitations could be few and far between.

According to your Dentist in Chicago and the AMA, or American Dental Association, more than 50 percent of Americans have some form of bad breath, clinically known as halitosis, with 25 percent suffering from chronic bad breath. However, not all bad breath is caused from bad oral hygiene. When you schedule an appointment with the Best Hispanic Dentist in Chicago, you can get to the root of your bad breath for the last time.

During your check up, one of the team from Romo Dental in Chicago will check the pockets in your gums for bacteria. If food particles, tartar, and plaque are present, your halitosis could be due to gingivitis or the more advanced periodontal disease. 

If either is detected, your dentist will either go ahead and treat you with a scaling and root planing procedure or schedule another appointment for a deep cleaning. Romo Dental will also make sure that your restorations are still in place as cracked fillings can be covering up tooth decay, which is another cause of bad breath. While you are sitting in the dentist chair, make sure that you ask about brushing and flossing. Even though you may brush once and floss twice a day you may not be doing it right.  

The only way to get rid of bad breath is to see your Chicago Dentist who will be able to determine whether your halitosis is caused by your teeth and gums or something else all together.

Some of the other causes of your bad breath could be related to the food and drink that you enjoy. If you consume too much garlic or like to add extra onions to your enchiladas, you could be asking for trouble. Other foods that may be the cause of your problem include your favorite Aunt Rosa’s salsa, overly sugary foods, or starchy products that can get stuck in-between your teeth. Sticky and fibrous foods like meat, popcorn, sticky candies, caramel, mango, and pineapple fuel the bacteria in your mouth and will cause bad breath. However, according to your dentist rinsing your mouth, brushing and flossing after enjoying these foods can help keep halitosis at bay.  

Other causes of bad breath could include colds. If your nasal passageways and lungs are loaded with green or yellow mucus, you could be scaring everyone away each time you cough.

The best way to find out what is causing your bad breath is to schedule an appointment with the best Dentist in Chicago, Romo Dental. After all, those holiday parties only come around once a year, and if you want to be included, it is important to have fresh breath.