Penkridge Dental Clinic Hosts No Smoking Day Event
A dental clinic in Penkridge, Staffordshire, hosted a No Smoking Day event on the 9th of March to encourage local people to quit for good. No Smoking Day is an annual campaign established by the British Heart Foundation.
Principal Dentist Mark Emms and the rest of the team at The Priors Dental Practice encouraged patients to drop in on Wednesday and find out more about the impact of smoking on oral health and obtain information about stop smoking services.
Dr Emms said he regularly comes across patients who have no idea that smoking causes harm to the teeth and gums. Many people are aware of the link between smoking and lung cancer, for example, but they don’t realise that by smoking, they are also increasing their risk of oral cancer significantly. Smoking also elevated the risk of gum disease and decay contributes to bad breath and staining.
On No Smoking Day, the team was out in force to educate people, answer their questions and provide them with advice to help them give up. Dr Emms recommends nicotine replacement therapies and self-help techniques. Although research suggests that e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarettes, little is known about the long-term effects and e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which means that once you give them up, you’re still likely to experience cravings.
The team also encouraged all patients to attend regular check-ups and keep an eye out for dental problems such as bleeding gums, slow-healing mouth ulcers, abnormal swelling or toothache.
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