Knoxville General Dentist Highlights Another Compelling Reason to Quit Smoking

Smoking is a detrimental habit that dentist, doctors, and other medical professionals do not generaly condone, for the betterment of your health. In general, your age doesn’t matter in terms of smoking being a less-than-ideal activity. Sometimes age and medications can also influence the specific health issues that can be exacerbated by…

Smoking is a detrimental habit that dentist, doctors, and other medical professionals do not generaly condone, for the betterment of your health. In general, your age doesn’t matter in terms of smoking being a less-than-ideal activity. Sometimes age and medications can also influence the specific health issues that can be exacerbated by tobacco use. Your Knoxville general dentist will discuss how a study has found that postmenopausal women who smoke are at a higher risk of losing teeth than women who never smoked.

University Study

The new study by researchers at the University at Buffalo was published (and featured on the cover) of theÐ’?Journal of the American Dental Association.Ð’?A large group of 1,106 women agreed to participate in the Buffalo OsteoPerio Study. This study was the biggest clinical trial and observational study ever undertaken in the United States and the first to examine comprehensive smoking histories of the women studied.

Focus on Postmenopausal Women

Smoking has already long been associated with tooth loss, but narrowing down a higher prevalence in postmenopausal women was a new focus.В?“Regardless of having better oral health practices, such as brushing and flossing, and visiting the dentist more frequently, postmenopausal women in general tend to experience more tooth loss than men of the same age,” noted Xiaodan Mai, a doctoral student in epidemiology in the UB Department of Social and Preventive Medicine in the School of Public Health and Health Professions. “We were interested in smoking as a variable that might be important.”

Much Higher Rate of Tooth Loss

Better dental hygiene and accessibility to preventive care has meant that fewer adults lose their teeth in this day and age. The UB study looked at heavy smokers who smoked the equivalent of a pack a day for 26 years. Participants provided information to researchers through filling out a questionnaire detailing their smoking history. Each woman consented to a comprehensive oral examination, including a dental history on the reasons for each missing tooth. The smoking group, in comparison to non-smokers, was nearly six times as likely to have succumbed to tooth loss as a result of periodontal disease (gum disease).�Says Mai, “Tooth loss due to periodontal disease is a prevalent condition among postmenopausal women that severely impacts their dietary intake, aesthetics, and overall quality of life. Women now have yet another, very tangible reason for�quitting smoking.”

Knoxville General Dentist Provides Dental Checkups

Keeping your teeth and gums healthy will help you keep all of your natural teeth. Visit yourÐ’?Knoxville general dentistÐ’?every six months. If you would like to schedule an appointment with ourÐ’?37919 dentist office,Ð’?you can call 865-584-8630. We welcome patients from Knoxville and the greater metropolitan area.

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