Smoking and Your Teeth

Higher Risk of Tooth Loss Among Smokers

A new study recently confirmed that regular smokers have a significantly increased risk of tooth loss.  According to research published in the Journal of Dental Research, the association of tooth loss was stronger in men than women and stronger in younger versus older individuals.

The researchers found female smokers were 2.5 times more likely to lose thier teeth than nonsmokers were while male smokers were up to 3.6 times more likely.  They also reported that smoking cessation was consistently associated with a reduction in tooth loss risk, with the risk of tooth loss approaching that of never smokers after approximately 10 to 20 years of cessation.