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Q: Are smoking and tooth loss related?
A: Indeed they are. Smokers are about twice as likely to lose their teeth as non-smokers, studies have found. In one study, male smokers lost, on average, 2.9 teeth after 10 years of smoking one pack of cigarettes a day. Non-smokers in the study lost an average of 1.3 teeth after 10 years. In a study of 583 healthy women between the ages of 41 and 76, researchers at Tufts University in Boston found that those who smoked one pack a day for 10 years were twice as likely to lose one or more teeth as non-smokers. The study also found that the risk of losing teeth decreased among women who quit smoking.
Smoking contributes to periodontal, or gum, disease, some experts believe, because it restricts blood flow to gum tissue. That limits the amount of nutrients to the bone and tissue that support the teeth. As noted above, the good news is that the cycle that leads to tooth loss can be broken by stopping tobacco use and getting into a good routine of oral care, including brushing, flossing and regular dental exams.
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