People often get braces to improve the look of their smile, but other things can affect your teeth and gums. Smoking and vaping don’t just affect your lungs. They can also affect your oral health.
Zombek Orthodontics wants you to have the best smile possible. That may include breaking bad habits that can damage your smile, including smoking and vaping. How do they affect teeth and gums? The answers may surprise you.
Braces today can do wonders with a smile in need of dental repairs. However, part of the success depends on patients doing their part to keep good oral hygiene habits and eliminate any bad habits that could damage their teeth.
We encourage our patients to brush their teeth at least twice a day for two minutes at a time. We also encourage patients to floss with dental floss at least once daily.
We also ask our patients to break any habits that might cause damage to the teeth, gums, or braces. This includes smoking and vaping, both of which can damage your teeth as well as your braces or clear aligners. In fact, all types of tobacco products should be avoided during treatment time.
We know smoking can discolor your teeth, but does vaping make your teeth yellow? Yes, it does, because vaping smoke also contains chemicals and acids that can stain your teeth.
Can smoking stain your braces and clear aligners? Can you vape with Invisalign? Despite being stain-resistant, your clear braces or Invisalign can become yellow from the smoke and chemicals.
Both cigarette smoke and vaping smoke contain a host of chemicals, some of which are acidic to your teeth. These chemicals can build up on your teeth around your braces brackets and under your braces wires, making them harder to remove. That’s just the start of the damage smoking and vaping with braces can do.
Braces make it more difficult to remove plaque because of the brackets and wires you must get around. Smoke adds acids and chemicals to the dental plaque that builds up on your teeth and gum tissue.
The buildup of these acids forms a potent plaque that can eat through your tooth’s enamel — the hard, protective outer layer of your tooth. That tooth decay can lead to decalcification of your teeth and eventually lead to cavities.
That same acid and plaque buildup can harm your gums, too. The chemicals can irritate your gums and lead to gingivitis, the first level of periodontal disease. Your gums may become red and swollen and start to bleed. Without intervention, this can lead to infections and tooth loss.
Just as these chemicals can stain your braces or Invisalign, they can also stain your teeth. This is especially bad if you have braces because the smoke likely won’t penetrate under the bonding agent holding your braces brackets to your teeth. The result is lighter squares on your teeth once your braces are removed.
These white spots can be difficult to correct because they will lighten along with the rest of your tooth with any whitening treatment. It will take several precise whitening treatments to improve the look of your teeth from smoking with braces.
Braces and clear aligners work by applying gentle pressure to the teeth down to the root. The pressure causes the bone around the root to break down, allowing the tooth to move. The bone then rebuilds itself behind the tooth, keeping it from getting too loose.
Studies have shown that smoking and vaping break down bone faster than normal, which could affect the braces treatment process. The chemicals also reduce the speed at which the bone rebuilds. It can make it more difficult to control the movement of your teeth during and after braces treatment.
Smoking and vaping can also cause a complication called root resorption. Instead of the root moving normally with the tooth, the body begins breaking down the root and resorbing it back into the body. Without the root, the tooth can die and fall out. This complication is possible with non-smokers, but it happens more often with smokers.
Smoking can also cause bad breath and increase the number and severity of mouth ulcers. These mouth ulcers, sometimes called canker sores, may be slower to heal with smokers because smoking suppresses your immune system.
You should let us or a dental professional know right away if you have an ulcer that hasn’t healed after more than a week, receding gums, swollen or bleeding gums, or other indications of infection.
It is never easy to stop smoking or vaping. Some people move to vaping to try to break a smoking habit, thinking it’s a “step down,” a healthier habit, or easier to stop than cigarettes. The truth is that vaping is just as unhealthy as smoking.
We encourage you to explore your options to stop smoking. There are many techniques available, including prescriptions you can obtain from your doctor, as well as natural remedies and even relaxation techniques. Your primary care physician may be able to recommend the best method for you.
The best way to have successful orthodontic care is to break any bad habits that could damage your teeth during and after treatment, including smoking or vaping. Removing these habits will improve your oral and overall health.
If you’re ready to explore your options, schedule an appointment with Zombek Orthodontics in Weston, FL, or Hollywood, FL. We can draw out a treatment plan that includes time to break your smoking or vaping habit. We’re ready to help you get the smile you’ve always wanted!
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