{"id":949,"date":"2019-11-06T18:42:03","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T18:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/dental-care-blog\/how-smoking-affects-kids-oral-health\/"},"modified":"2019-11-06T18:42:03","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T18:42:03","slug":"how-smoking-affects-kids-oral-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/dental-care-blog\/how-smoking-affects-kids-oral-health\/","title":{"rendered":"How Smoking Affects Kids\u2019 Oral Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2019\/11\/smoking-ped_543.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"543\" height=\"543\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-950\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2019\/11\/smoking-ped_543.jpg 543w, https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2019\/11\/smoking-ped_543-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/53\/2019\/11\/smoking-ped_543-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 543px) 100vw, 543px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>WE\u2019VE ALL HEARD<\/b> over and over how smoking can adversely impact health, with the most infamous example being lung cancer. But smoking doesn\u2019t only harm the lungs; it damages every single system in the body, and it also damages oral health. As parents, we should do whatever we can to make sure our kids and teens aren\u2019t picking up such a harmful habit.<\/p>\n<h3>Smoking Versus Oral Health<\/h3>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ada.org\/en\/member-center\/oral-health-topics\/smoking-and-tobacco-cessation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ADA<\/a>, some of the oral health effects of smoking include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Chronic bad breath<\/li>\n<li>Stains on the tongue and teeth<\/li>\n<li>Dulled senses of taste and smell<\/li>\n<li>Receding gums<\/li>\n<li>Enamel erosion<\/li>\n<li>Tooth and bone loss<\/li>\n<li>Increased risk of gum disease and oral cancer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>What About Vaping?<\/h3>\n<p>Vaping is often portrayed as a much healthier option to traditional smoking, but the vapor still contains nicotine and ultra-fine toxic chemicals and heavy metals. The nicotine itself reduces blood flow, affecting teeth and gums, <strong>potentially causing gum recession and death of gum tissue<\/strong>. It can also reduce saliva production, leading to dry mouth (which causes all kinds of problems, from bad breath to tooth decay), and it can trigger teeth grinding, which damages teeth.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JhCgZ__ffnc?rel=0\" width=\"543\" height=\"305\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Why Do Kids Start Smoking?<\/h3>\n<p>Even if they\u2019re learning in school that smoking can lead to all kinds of diseases and other health problems, it can be hard for kids to really understand that <strong>this habit might have very serious consequences for them, personally<\/strong>. In many cases, they start smoking because they want to seem more grown up, particularly if the grown-ups in their lives smoke.<\/p>\n<p>The kids who don\u2019t smoke cigarettes may still be vulnerable to vaping because of all the messaging that it\u2019s not as unhealthy as traditional smoking \u2014 not to mention the brightly colored vape pens and candy flavors the liquid comes in. Decades of PSAs and instruction have been pretty effective at stripping traditional smoking of its \u201ccool\u201d facade, but <strong>modern kids and teens aren\u2019t as wary of vaping<\/strong>. As parents, we should talk to our kids about the effects of vaping and help them understand that they don\u2019t need an addictive habit to be cool and grown up.<\/p>\n<h3>Secondhand Smoke Isn\u2019t Safe Either<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes smokers will claim that they\u2019re not hurting anyone else with their habit, and they\u2019re willing to accept the risks to themselves. Unfortunately, this is not accurate. Studies have suggested a link between cavities (in baby teeth and adult teeth) and regular exposure to secondhand smoke. <strong>The broader health risks are especially serious for small children and infants<\/strong>, including infections, asthma attacks, and even SIDS.<\/p>\n<h3>Take Advantage of the Resources Around You<\/h3>\n<p>Quitting an addictive habit isn\u2019t easy, but smokers who need help quitting are not alone. Some of the best resources are the support of family, friends, and counselors. There\u2019s also a lot of great information available online, and the dentist is another great resource. If you are a smoker, make sure to schedule regular dental exams (sometimes more than two a year) to keep your mouth healthy!<\/p>\n<h4>We\u2019re always happy to see our patients!<\/h4>\n<h6>Top image used under <span style=\"color: #2a7abd;\"><a style=\"color: #2a7abd;\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/share-your-work\/public-domain\/cc0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CC0 Public Domain license<\/a><\/span>. Image cropped and modified from original.<\/h6>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #d9d9d9;\">The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.<\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><b>WE\u2019VE ALL HEARD<\/b> over and over how smoking can adversely impact health, with the most infamous example being lung cancer. But smoking doesn\u2019t only&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[176,179,181],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-dental-posts","category-pediatric","category-176","category-179","category-181","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/alexandriapediatricdentistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}