How Does Smoking Affect Your Gums & Teeth?

Video Transcript

"So have you ever wondered on how smoking affects your gums and your teeth? Well my name is Michelle and I'm a Dental Assistant with Solutionz and I'm going to explain to you on how smoking affects your gums and your teeth. Basically if you are a smoker, what smoking does is it lowers your immune system and it also reduces your white blood cell count. Your white blood cells is actually what protects your teeth from infection, it fights off bacteria and plaque. So if you tend to be a heavy smoker, you're more susceptible to gum disease, tooth decay due to the fact that you're not producing enough white blood cells and it's not fighting off the plaque and the bacteria that's in your mouth. So if you tend to smoke and your, you know, you really need to try to quit smoking. I know sometimes it can be hard, but, or you need to go see your general dentist on a regular basis more than just two times a year, possibly maybe four times a year, like once every three months; therefore they're able to keep your teeth clean and able to scale out the bacteria and the plaque that might be underneath your gums. If you leave that in there, like I was saying, the white blood cell count is very low; so your body is not able to do it for itself. So you need to go to your general dentist so therefore, they can more clean your teeth in a better manner than what you would be able to do, and that what your body and your immune system would be able to do. So once again my name is Michelle and I'm a Dental Assistant with Solutionz and I just explained to you on how smoking affects your gums and your teeth."