There are many ways in which smoking can affect your dental health.  As well as staining your teeth and causing bad breath, smoking can also worsen the health of your gums, leading to serious gum disease.

In a non-smoker's mouth, one of the first signs of gum disease would be bleeding gums and this would probably prompt you to see your dentist.  However, smoking affects the circulation and, in the mouth of a smoker, gum disease can be present with little or no bleeding, so that you may be unaware that anything is wrong.

Smokers are also much more likely to develop oral cancer (cancer of the lips, tongue and other soft tissues in the mouth).

If you are thinking of giving up smoking, see our "Tell Me About..." sheet on the reasons why you should do this and the best ways to go about it, with lots of helpful hints.