If you smoke, you know better than someone who doesn’t on how hard it is to quit. Usually, when you want to quit, it helps to have a motivation, such as lowering your risk for health problems like cancer or cardiovascular disease.

In the eyes of a dentist, another reason for quitting tobacco is this: it could be negatively impacting your teeth and making your gums unhealthy. Also, once you visit the dentist, restorations like dental implants are a harder process and may fail.

So for your motivation, here’s 3 reasons why smoking doesn’t mix with dental implants.

Smoke damages tissues. It may not feel like it, however, the smoke from smoking is hot enough to burn the outermost layer of skin cells in your mouth. With each burn, this thickens the cells. Over time, this may affect your salivary glands and how much saliva you’re able to produce. Less saliva production can create a chain of events that increases the risk of tooth decay or periodontal (gum) disease. With these kind of events in the mouth, bone loss could be an end result, making it hard to even place dental implants.

Nicotine restricts blood flow. Nicotine is what people who smoke crave. Nicotine can cause a restriction in the blood flow of tiny vessels throughout the mouth membranes and gums. When there is less blood flow through tissues such as these, they may not be able to fight infections or heal like normal, due to lack of antibodies. Considering this, the integration of bone and dental implants may not exist, which is needed for a durable hold. Also, slower healing and higher infection rates are higher with nicotine use.

Smoking is correlated to other diseases that also impact oral health. Smoking has not only direct effects on the mouth, but also can increase the risk of systemic conditions like cardiovascular and lung disease, and cancer. All of these conditions may also trigger inflammation, which has been shown through several studies to affect teeth, gums and underlying bone work against your chances of long-term success with implants.

Want to know more about dental implants? Call us today or book a consultation. Another great article for this topic can be found in the Dear Doctor magazine article “Dental Implants & Smoking: What are the Risks?”

In a great daily dental routine, you should include the act of flossing to fully cleanse and combat bacteria from causing tooth decay. Our dental hygienist, Melissa, has a great explanation on how to floss properly. Flossing does require technique, so here are three quick tips to help your flossing experience be efficient and effective.

1. Regardless of what type of floss you’re using – single use picks, traditional floss, or a water flosser, always be conscious of where your floss or device is. The goal of flossing is to reach areas that your toothbrush cannot – in between teeth, behind teeth, and any spaces that could harbor food debris or bacteria.
2. Proper flossing consists of a “hugging” motion, not an “up-and-down” motion. When you’re flossing, only focusing the motion upwards and downwards may miss over 50% of the food/bacteria that you’re trying to reach. When in between two teeth, try to focus on each tooth that you’re in between. For example, give each side of the teeth you’re in between a hug with the floss. (This means paying attention to the frontal side of one tooth and the back of another individually). By “hugging” one tooth at a time, like a “c” motion along it’s contacts, you will maximize your efficiency in flossing, effectively cleaning between your teeth.
3. Try to make it a habit! Flossing is best when you do it more than once every once in a while. Immediate perks would be the look of a fresher, whiter smile over time.

All dental offices have a village of great people that work together to make sure that everything in the office is ready – whether its hiring dentists, cleaning the facility on weekends, or even down to the products we use for your treatment. At our Scottsdale location, we trust Henry Schein for our equipment (dental chairs, vacuums, equipment maintenance) and our products (impression material, panoramic x-rays, cotton rolls). From our experience with Henry Schein, we’ve been able to invest in the best products for our patients, always being educated on the latest and greatest products in dentistry. Also, Henry Schein has impressed us with their professionalism, reliability, and great attitude!

Look at their website, https://www.henryschein.com/us-en/dental/default.aspx?did=dental&id=1&hsi_domain=www.henryschein.com&hsi_locale=us-en if you’re interested on getting to know more about the supplies we use and trust at Serenity Smiles.