Oxfordshire’s Biggest Invisalign Provider

Posts Tagged ‘Smoking’

Can You Smoke With Invisalign?

Saturday, October 2nd, 2021

Can You Smoke With Invisalign?

If you are a heavy smoker and you’re considering clear aligner treatment, you might be wondering if you can smoke with Invisalign. A good question, indeed! Orthodontic treatment requires patience and strict adherence to lifestyle and dietary instructions given by your dentists. This article explains how smoking may affect orthodontic treatment and whether it is a good idea to smoke while wearing aligners. 

Can I Smoke With My Braces On?

Smoking is not only harmful to your general wellbeing, but it can also adversely affect your oral health. According to the British Orthodontic Society, smoking negatively affects gum health and increases the risk of systematic illnesses like high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems. If you are wearing braces, especially the tooth-coloured ones, smoking may result in their staining. Besides, the high temperature generated in the oral cavity while tobacco may result in the warpage of the clear aligners

Will My Braces Stain From Smoking?

Adverse effects can occur from smoking;

  • Systemic illnesses – Such as high blood pressure and other cardiovascular health issues.
  • Gum disease
  • Bad breath

But it can also result in the staining of your braces, particularly if you are wearing ceramic braces or clear aligners. That is why it is recommended to quit, or at least cut down on smoking while you’re getting your teeth straightened with orthodontic treatment. 

Do Clear Braces Stain? How Can You Prevent It If So?

Tooth-coloured ceramic braces and Invisalign clear aligner trays are particularly vulnerable to staining due to smoking. Particularly in the case of Invisalign, this staining not only presents a cosmetic concern but also indicates higher chances of aligner warpage due to the persistently high temperatures generated in the mouth while smoking. While the best thing is to avoid smoking altogether, there are ways in which you can smoke without staining your aligners. Whenever you wish to smoke, simply remove aligners. Once you’re done, rinse your mouth, wash your aligners with lukewarm water and put them back on. However, you should not remove your aligners frequently for smoking,  as doing so may adversely affect your treatment outcome. 

How Can I Prevent My White Braces From Stain As I Use To Smoke?

Giving up on smoking is the first and the foremost step in avoiding the staining of tooth-coloured braces. Now that you have quit smoking, there are lesser chances of your braces getting stained. However, you must ensure to keep the braces clean – to prevent them from staining due to plaque and tartar deposition – by brushing and flossing regularly. You may also use an interdental brush to ensure optimal cleaning. 

Can You Vape With A Retainer In? I’m Worried Because It’s Plastic?

Using a vape while wearing retainers – particularly if you’re using a low-temperature formula – should not cause any harm to your retainers. However, whether you are careful or use conventional cigarettes or vapes, your plastic retainers can still get stained. If you are wearing a removable aligner, you can minimise the chances of their staining by removing them while you smoke. Alternatively, if your dentist has attached a fixed retainer inside your mouth,  the best thing to prevent staining the retainers is to avoid smoking altogether. If you cannot control the urge, make sure you maintain optimal oral hygiene, as it may help in reducing or even in offsetting the staining issue

Can I Vape With Braces?

Many people think that vapes are less harmful than cigarettes. Unfortunately,  this is not true. Research suggests that many formulas used for vaping contain harmful ingredients like nicotine, which, on the one hand, affects the ability of our teeth to respond favourably to orthodontic treatment and results in staining of the braces on the other hand. Therefore, it is better to avoid smoking or vaping while you’re undergoing orthodontic treatment. 

Can Dentists Tell If I Smoked Once A Day For The Past Week?

Even if you manage to avoid tooth smoking-related staining with regular brushing and flossing, other tell-tale signs may indicate that you have been smoking in the previous days. People who smoke, whether one cigarette or an entire pack, tend to have swollen gums. Besides, bad breath is also a commonly observed sign that can tell your dentist that you haven’t given up smoking. 

Why Did My Teeth Become Yellow While Using Invisalign?

One of the most common reasons for yellowing of the teeth is due to plaque and tartar deposition. If you’re wearing Invisalign trays and you feel that your teeth have become yellow, it indicates that you have not been maintaining optimal oral hygiene. However, no need to worry; this problem is reversible. Start brushing and flossing, and the problem should go away. 

How To Remove The Yellow Stains Around My Braces

Stains can form around dental braces due to various reasons. If you have plaque-related stains around the braces,  these can be removed with optimal oral hygiene care or professional teeth cleaning once your treatment is complete. On the other hand, if you observe “white spots” around the braces, these occur because of loss of minerals from the teeth and indicate the initiation of the tooth decay process. Therefore, white spot lesions should not be taken lightly, and immediate dental help should be sought. 

So, are you ready to get your teeth straightened with orthodontic treatment? Make sure you get your treatment done by an experienced and qualified dentist. If you live in Oxford or surrounding areas, The Smile Practice can take care of all your dental needs. Whether you need Invisalign aligners or ceramic braces, we have got you covered. So book a free consultation appointment today, and let us give you a smile you have always dreamed of.

The habits that cause dental problems

Thursday, January 4th, 2018

Everyone wants to do all they can to keep their teeth fit and healthy for life, with healthy teeth we look good, can eat what we want and ultimately healthy teeth cost us less at the dentist. There are however a series of habits which can cause a range of dental problems, this blog post is dedicated to those habits and helping you understand some of the problems that these habits can cause.

Smoking

Yes, you guessed it were going to ask you to give up smoking! Without mentioning the risk of oral cancer, smoking fundamentally changes the fine balance of pH level in your mouth. Your mouth should ideally be at a neutral pH 7, this balance is kept because the bacteria which naturally reside in your mouth excrete acid as they digest their food, this acid naturally reduces the pH level and your saliva counterbalances this by being alkaline. If you smoke,  your mouth will be dry and the saliva cannot neutralise the acid, this means your teeth are bathed in a more acidic environment which can be more prone to tooth decay.

Smoking after tooth extraction

As well as altering the fine balance of acid and alkaline in your mouth smoking also tends to prevent healing. A research paper By a Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon [1] on this subject states that,

Tobacco affects postoperative wound healing following surgical and nonsurgical tooth extractions, routine maxillofacial surgeries, implants, and periodontal therapies. In an experimental study, bone regeneration after distraction osteogenesis was found to be negatively affected by smoking. Thus, tobacco, a peripheral vasoconstrictor, along with its products like nicotine increases platelet adhesiveness, raises the risk of microvascular occlusion, and causes tissue ischemia

The research showed that because tobacco restricts blood vessels the healing process is not as effective as it is in non-smokers.

Thumbsucking

Thumbsucking can act like an orthodontic appliance. Whilst your teeth are generally stable in your mouth it doesn’t take much pressure to move them, if this pressure is continuous. Prolonged thumbsucking can put pressure on the inside of your teeth pushing outwards.

The effects of thumbsucking

Thumbsucking pushes the top teeth forwards creating a ‘buck teeth’ look, clinically called an anterior open bite. If this has happened from a very young age it can be extremely difficult to correct as the thumb pushes on the palate of the mouth and actually moves the bone as well as the teeth. It may not always be possible to simply push the teeth back to where they were before if the underlying bone structure has also been moved. The thumb sucking habit should ideally be broken as early in your child’s development as possible to prevent this bone movement.

The British Orthodontic Society have written a useful information sheet on thumbsucking. You can download this information sheet here.

Thumbsucking treatment

Thumbsucking appliance

Image source: https://dentagama.com/news/thumb-sucking-appliances

There are various thumb sucking treatment appliances available. Thumb sucking appliances such as these prevent the child creating a seal with their thumb, this means the sucking action has no force behind it and therefore the pressure cannot be put on the teeth and bone.

Brushing teeth excessively

Brushing your teeth twice a day is recommended by virtually every dentist, when this is coupled with  cleaning in between your teeth with either floss or an interdental brush and regular fluoride mouthwash in between brushing you stand the highest chance of maintaining excellent oral hygiene… However, you can go too far.

Your gums are resilient however I can only stand so much brushing. If you over brush your gums can begin to recede, this can give you the effect of looking ‘long in the tooth’. If you continue to brush the same area too much then as the gum pulls away it can reveal the softer dentine/root part of your tooth (usually hidden underneath the gum). Because this is softer it is more susceptible to damage from excessive brushing.

The following image clearly shows the gum which has receded from the teeth, you can see the darker (and softer) roots becoming exposed.

Gum recession

Image source: http://www.gumrecession.com/thinfragile.html

Brushing teeth excessively can wear away the enamel on the outer surface of your tooth, once this has been done and the softer denting has been exposed the wear will increase.

The effects of excessive toothbrushing

Image source: http://www.smileartsny.com/main-reasons-gum-recession/

How to brush your teeth

If you are experiencing either of that this use above we highly recommend purchasing an electric toothbrush with a pressure sensor. Many Modern electric toothbrushes have pressure sensors which let you know if you are pressing too hard, this can be one of the easiest ways to prevent excessive toothbrushing, especially as these toothbrushes have a timer.

When you brush your teeth, always keep the toothbrush at a 45° angle to your teeth, this is the optimum angle to keep your teeth clean.

 

Teeth grinding (bruxism)

Teeth grinding, otherwise known as bruxism is a common way to damage your teeth. Grinding teeth in your sleep is extremely common. The causes can be many, including stress & bite problems. Grinding teeth not only affects your teeth but can also lead to headaches as the muscles which power your jaw become tired and overworked.

Wearing a night mouthguard can help prevent teeth grinding, these work because your teeth cannot fit together, the mouthguard provides a smooth surface so your teeth slide over one another and it becomes impossible to grind. This means you will wake up in the morning and your muscles around your jaw, neck and head will have relaxed. This can have a significant effect not only on very affects of tooth grinding but on any associated headaches.

Using teeth as tools

Yes, some people use their teeth to open beer bottles, and guess what, the teeth break! Your teeth are designed to eat, please don’t use them for anything else.

Drinking too much sugar

This is the final one in our list, drinking too much sugar feeds the bacteria in your mouth. The bacteria love sugar and when they digestive they excrete acid and this acid attacks your teeth causing dental decay. The secret to having healthy teeth is to combine an excellent oral health care routine with a suitably matched diet. The sugar comes from many sources, not just added refined sugar, so it’s good to be aware of your complete sugar intake throughout the day.

 

[1]  Tobacco smoking and surgical healing of oral tissues: a review. Balaji SM1 2008 Oct-Dec;19(4):344-8.

I am dropping a note to say thanks for all the work you have done for me, I am aware that I am not the easiest of patients. Your patience and explanations whilst work is underway was very much appreciated. The bridge work is really outstanding, here’s hoping I need nothing more than routine checks for some time.
- Mr R G
we are registered and regulated by
General Dental Council BDA goodpractice member CareQuality Commission