Can You Smoke With Braces?

Smoking can significantly slow down the whole process of straightening your teeth, preventing you achieving an attractive smile sooner.  Additionally, staining from tobacco can affect the enamel of your teeth at a deeper level and cannot always be removed with brushing.  Last but not least, it is likely that continuing to smoke with braces will increase your healing time.

Smoking Jeopardizes Oral Health

Smoking can make the teeth more susceptive to plaque and tartar build-up, which is the principal cause of gum disease, tooth -decay and bad breath. Tissues and bones need to be free of disease-causing bacteria for braces to work. Tobacco increases the risk of developing gum disease, a condition that leads to tooth and bone loss.

Smoking Wrecks Teeth Appearance

Smoking will discolour your braces on this there is no argument.  Two popular treatments we offer at the Forest& Ray Dental Clinic are clear fixed braces and Lingual braces and the good reason our patients chose either of these is because they are so hard to detect.  Clear braces can give you a straighter smile quickly and Lingual is fixed to the reverse side of the teeth so they can’t be seen.  But smoking will discolour them badly making your smile yellow. Later, once the brackets are removed, it is possible the teeth will have lighter coloured spots where the surrounding area has been stained from puffing or using tobacco-like substitutes.

Turn the Tide

Much of the damage that smoking may have done inside your mouth over the years is completely reversible if you are willing to abstain from the habit entirely. If you can quit cigarettes for even just a few months you will find an overall increase in your lung function and a greatly reduced risk of oral health issues such as gum disease and more. This is something to consider if you’re thinking of using smokeless tobacco. Your lungs may be clearer but many of the same problems will occur in the mouth- discolouration, bad breath, as well as inviting mouth and gum disease.

If You Cannot Stop Smoking

The care you need to keep your braces clean if you smoke is doubled. But if you insist on smoking or cannot quit, then you will have to work harder on your teeth and mouth. The best way to maintain healthy teeth is to brush for longer when you brush twice a day and floss on a regular basis. This combination will help remove plaque where the toothbrush cannot reach. 
 So, the dental professionals at Forest& Ray recommend that you don’t smoke or use tobacco products while wearing braces. But do talk to us about ways around this problem and the procedures we use to remove stains and whiten tobacco-stained teeth.