Today we will be telling you about smoking and smokeless tobacco.
Smokeless tobacco such as chewing tobacco and snuff, are:
Chewing tobacco: Long strands of loose leaves, plugs, or twists of tobacco.
Snuff: Finely ground tobacco packaged in cans or pouches. It’s sold as dry or moist.
Some of the side effects include:
- Gum disease that can lead to tooth loss.
- Tissue and bone loss around the roots of the teeth.
- Wear down of teeth.
- Stained and discolored teeth.
- Bad breath and bad taste.
- Slow healing after a tooth extraction or other surgery.
- Oral cancer.
Smokeless tobacco is not a healthy alternative to smoking. Quitting is the only way to decrease your risk of these and other tobacco-related health problems.
The addictive quality of nicotine, which is found in cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco, can make this quitting difficult. Talk to your dentist or doctor to see if the medications available would help you to stop using tobacco.