Can Smoking Be The Root Cause For Bleeding Gums?

Bleeding gums mainly occur when plaque has not been properly
removed from your teeth, which is due to poor oral hygiene habits,
including a lack of brushing and flossing. If plaque is not
removed, it causes the gums to recede from your teeth. Plaque also
contains bacteria which then begins to attack the tissue around
your teeth. This can lead to gingivitis, the symptoms of which
include inflammation of the gums and bleeding gums.


However, if left untreated, gingivitis can turn into periodontal
(gum) disease. Periodontal disease is a bacterial infection, which
destroys the soft tissue and bone that anchor your teeth to your
jawbones. Gum disease that is left untreated can lead to the
permanent loss of teeth.

Aside from gingivitis or periodontal disease, there are other
causes of bleeding gums as well. These include brushing too hard,
certain medications, hormonal changes during menstruation and
pregnancy, and a poor diet, which may cause the gums to become
inflamed.

Can Smoking be the Root Cause of Bleeding
Gums?

Unfortunately, those who smoke may be suffering from gum disease
and not even realize, because smokers have poor blood supply to
their gums so they are likely to experience less gum bleeding than
non-smokers. This lack of symptoms can mask an increasingly serious
case of gum disease for years. Despite the lack of signs and
symptoms, smokers often experience more aggressive bone loss and
more frequent tooth loss than non smokers.

Why Does Smoking Cause an Increase in Periodontal
Disease?

  • Smoking can decrease blood flow all over the body. In the mouth
    this results in less nutrients to promote healing and less immune
    system cells to fight off infection. Decreases in blood flow are
    also one of the ways that smoking contributes to heart
    disease.
  • Smoking can also decrease your body’s ability to fight
    infection by directly lowering the number of immune cells available
    to fight infection.
  • Even the types of bacteria in your gums can change with
    smoking; smoking causing the more virulent and aggressive bacteria
    to proliferate.

Smoking also causes gum disease to progress a lot faster than
those who do not smoke – it makes bone loss much more severe
(several times more severe than non-smokers) and causes more deep
pockets. It also makes the treatment of periodontal disease much
more difficult because smoking does not allow for conducive healing
conditions inside the mouth.

If you notice that your gums are regularly bleeding, it is
something that should not be ignored. Contact your dentist as soon
as possible.

Consider Pearl Dental for your appointment. We aim to enhance
every aspect of the dental experience and offer treatment that is
specifically tailored to you. Our team was also voted first in the
“Best Dentist” category of the 2014 and 2015 Burlington Post
Reader’s Choice Awards. Contact us
today.

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Can Smoking Be The Root Cause For Bleeding Gums? appeared first
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