A study conducted by the Institute of Public Health (IPH), Bangalore,
shows that over 50 per cent of Indians are smokers. While smoking harms your
entire body it is more visible on smoker's teeth and lips. Teeth & Lip
discoloration is a common problem for chain smokers.
Harm done:
Apart from discoloration of the teeth and lip,
smoking cigarettes or cigars causes a lot of oral symptoms and side effects,
which include: Sticky tar deposits, brown tooth stains, red inflammation on the
roof of the mouth ,delayed healing of the gums, chronic bad breath , faster
tooth decay than non-smokers. The symptoms are gross manifestations of the
biological changes occurring in the body due to continuous addiction to
smoking.
Teeth discoloration:
Smoking reduces the flow of saliva. Saliva is
important for cleaning the lining of the mouth and teeth and protects teeth
from decay. Continuous smoking reduces the flow of saliva and thus handicaps
its key function. It decreases blood flow to the gums and cuts the supply of
vital nutrients.
Smoking also raises the mouth's temperature, damaging and
killing important oral tissue cells.
Chain smokers normally use the mouth
rinses and washes containing chlorhexidine and cetylpyridinium chloride which
can also stain teeth.
Remedy:
Although the suggestion is to Quit Smoking. For
those who find it difficult to quit, dental treatments or home remedies can be
tried at home depending on the cause of discolouration...
-Reduce your number of cigarettes in a day.
-Brushing and floss regularly and get your teeth cleaned by a dentist
every 6 months.
-Massage the gums with your fingers after brushing, as this increases
the blood supply and hence nutrition to the gums.
-Don't forget to clean your tongue with a tongue cleaner; this is as
important as cleaning your teeth.
-Rinse your mouth thoroughly after eating anything to reduce the
accumulation of food residues in the mouth.
-Avoid tooth decaying foods like carbohydrates & sugars.
-Retentive
sticky foods (such as raisins, caramels, toffees, slowly dissolving hard
candies, etc.) that are not quickly diluted by saliva. Avoid them.
-Vitamin C helps gums to stay healthy. Smoking reduces the level of
vitamin C drastically. Eat plenty of green veggies and fruits. Gorge on foods
rich in Vitamins.
-Bread, pastries, aerated drinks, doughnuts, sweet rolls and processed
cereals, should be avoided.
-An intense smoker should encourage beverages like lassi, buttermilk and
home-made squashes atleast once in a day.
-Drink at least 10 glasses of water to flush toxins away. Apply Vaseline
to your lips regularly.
-Clarified butter is also a very good home remedy. Apply a little every
night to soothe lips. This helps keep lips moisturized.
-Apply lemon juice on your lips at night, lemon has bleaching
properties. Apply Vaseline or lip balm to your lips regularly.
-Use Over-The-Counter whitening gums or a chair side dental tooth
whitening 60 min treatments once a while
-Eat a small piece of cheese or chew some sugar-free gum. Cheese
provides calcium to replace the minerals lost by the bacteria produced acid,
and helps to even up the bacterial balance in your mouth. Chewing gum
stimulates the flow of saliva
-Wash your mouth with normal tap water. Application of Margosa leaves
and basil leaves by rubbing them tenderly on your lips for 5 minutes will get
back your pinky pink lip colour.
-Always use a tooth brush with M shaped bristles as this cleans the
teeth more effectively than ordinary tooth brushes with flat bristles. Do not
use hard tooth brushes as these will damage the gums.
Times of India
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