Tobacco, alcohol, and drug use
Smoking, vaping, and using drugs can hurt your oral health and teeth.
It's important for anyone who smokes, vapes, or uses drugs to see a dentist regularly. This helps them find and treat any oral health problems early. Brushing, flossing, and getting your teeth cleaned regularly will make your mouth much healthier. Also, make sure to follow your dentist's instructions carefully after all appointments. Always tell your dentist if you smoke, vape, or use drugs.
These habits make it more likely to have the problems listed below.
Oral cancer:
These habits can make the skin inside your mouth get thick, and cells can grow in strange ways. This can turn into different kinds of cancer. Oral cancers can show up on or under your tongue, in your mouth, on your gums, at the back of your tongue, and in your throat. Being around chemicals that are in tobacco products and alcohol can also increase your risk of developing oral cancer. Using tobacco products and drinking alcohol both raise your risk of oral cancer, but if you do both, the risk is even higher.
Signs of oral cancer can include:
- A sore throat that won't go away, a hoarse voice, or feeling like something is stuck in your throat.
- Pain, bleeding, or white or red spots in your mouth.
- Pain, a sore, lump, or thick patch in your mouth, lip, throat, or neck.
- Trouble chewing, swallowing, talking, or moving your tongue or jaw.
- Swelling in your jaw that makes your dentures not fit right or feel uncomfortable.
- Numbness in your tongue or other parts of your mouth.
- Ear pain.
Gum problems:
If bacteria stay on your teeth for too long, they form a sticky film called plaque. This plaque turns into a hard substance called calculus or tartar. If you don't get rid of it, calculus can attach to teeth under the gums, where it's hard to clean. These bacteria and calculus can infect the tissue around your teeth, making it sore and swollen. If it gets worse, it can lead to a serious gum disease called periodontitis.
With periodontitis, your gums pull away from your teeth, you lose bone around your teeth, and your teeth can get loose or even fall out. Using tobacco products makes it more likely to lose bone around your teeth. Symptoms of gum problems include:
- Your gums might be tender, swollen, and bleed easily.
- Gums can pull back, making your teeth sensitive to hot and cold.
Dry mouth:
Your saliva (spit) is vital to oral health. It has minerals that keep your teeth strong and fight off cavities and fungal infections. Saliva also helps to wet your food and break it down, washes away food from your gums and teeth, and helps you swallow.
Dry mouth makes your chances of getting root decay (cavities on the roots of your teeth) higher. Bad breath is a common sign of dry mouth. Hundreds of medicines, both prescription and over-the-counter, can stop your saliva glands from working properly.
Cavities:
Cavities start when bacteria and acids in your mouth (often from sugary and starchy foods and drinks) stick to your teeth and start to eat away the hard outer layer called enamel.
If you don't have enough saliva, or if your teeth are exposed frequently to acids, the surfaces of the teeth will get weaker, leading to the formation of small holes known as cavities. If not treated, cavities can lead to infection, pain, and tooth loss. Cavities on the roots of your teeth are more common if you smoke cigarettes.
Teeth grinding:
Grinding, clenching, or gnashing your teeth is an oral health problem that can cause damage to your teeth. Tobacco or alcohol use increases instances of teeth grinding. If it's mild, you might not need treatment, but severe grinding can damage your teeth, cause jaw pain, and cause headaches.
Signs of teeth grinding include:
- Flat, cracked, chipped, or loose teeth.
- Sensitive teeth.
- Worn-down enamel (the outer layer of your teeth).
- Sore, tight, or tired jaw muscles.
- Headaches or face pain.
Dull sense of taste and smell:
Some changes in taste and smell are caused by what's in the drug, but most happen because the drug changes how your body's systems work. It can take months or even years for a drug to cause problems with your taste or smell.
While some drugs can make you lose your taste, most of the time they just decrease it or make it taste bad or different. Most taste changes are described as bitter, metallic, or sour.
Smell changes can mean you smell things more, less, or that things smell bad.
Stained teeth and tongue:
Certain drugs can make your teeth change color, both on the inside and outside.
Discoloration inside the tooth usually happens when the tooth develops. This stain is not likely to be removed.
Discoloration on the outside of the tooth usually appears on the surface. This stain can be removed by getting a cleaning at a dental office.
Problems and slow healing after gum treatments and tooth removal:
Smoking, vaping, and drug use can lead to delayed healing in the mouth after dental procedures. Here are some key points:
- Decreased blood flow: reduced circulation to the tooth socket means essential nutrients and oxygen can't reach the area.
- Weakened immune system: a compromised immune system makes it more difficult to fight infections.
- Risk of "dry socket": There is an increased chance of developing a condition known as "dry socket." This painful issue occurs when the blood clot at the extraction site comes out or fails to form correctly, leaving the bone and nerves exposed.
If these oral health problems aren't treated, they can get worse and lead to toothaches, infections (abscesses), and tooth loss. This can then make it hard to chew and digest food, cause problems with how your teeth look, and make you feel unwell.
Cigarette smoke harms almost every part of your body. There's no such thing as a healthy tobacco product. Studies show that smokers don't clean their teeth well and have more calculus.
For people who use tobacco, alcohol, or drugs, oral health problems get worse because of:
- Not cleaning their teeth well.
- Eating a lot of sugar.
- Not going to the dentist very often.
These habits often happen because of an unhealthy lifestyle, money problems, and mental health issues that can come with drug use.
Where can you find a dentist?
You can also find a dentist that accepts Medicaid at https://medicaid.utah.gov.
Or call 1-866-608-9422 to talk to a Medicaid health program representative.
Click the links below to download flyers containing this information.
Visit the websites below for supplemental materials.
Way to quit
This helps people quit tobacco using an evidenced-based program. Patients can customize their quit plan. Providers can refer your patient by fax, phone call, or on their website.