Cigarette Smoking Increases the risk of root canal treatment
Smoking cigarette not only stains teeth and is a risk factor in gum disease but also increases the risk of needing root canals. We know that smokers are more prone to gum disease. Smoking suffocates the gum tissue from healing itself and makes it more prone to the loss of bone due to bacterial activities. Smoking also impairs the body’s response to infection. It also decreases the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity and causes vascular dysfunction. These affect the health of the nerve inside of the tooth and surrounding bone around it. Now, new studies indicate that the risk of root canals increases with more years of exposure to cigarette and decreases with the length of abstinence. There is a dose response relationship between cigarette smoking and the risk of root canal. More an individual smokes more likely he/she would end up needing to have root canal treatment.
The staining effect of the cigarette on the teeth can be reversed by the use of whitening procedures like Zoom whitening in our Seattle cosmetic dental office. We can whiten the teeth up to 15 to 20 shades lighter using cosmetic dental procedures
