How does smoking affect your oral health?
You might already know that smoking can harm your health – from raising your risk of cancer to damaging your heart and lungs. But what’s less talked about, is how smoking can affect your mouth, gums and teeth.
In this article, we’ll explore the effects of smoking on your oral health, and the changes you can make to protect your smile.
What are the effects of smoking on teeth and gums?
Smoking can have long-term effects on your teeth and gums. Here are ways that smoking harms your oral health.
Stained teeth
When you smoke cigarettes, the nicotine and tar in tobacco coat your teeth and seep into the pores of your enamel. Enamel is the hard outer layer of your teeth. At first, this can make your teeth look yellow. Over time, especially if you’re a heavy smoker, it could turn your teeth brown.
Bad breath (halitosis)
Cigarette smoke often leaves behind an unpleasant smell. But that’s not the only way smoking can cause bad breath. It also dries out your mouth (xerostomia) and raises your risk of gum disease. Both issues can make bad breath worse.
Changes in taste and smell
Smoking can also affect your sense of taste and smell. Research suggests that the chemicals in tobacco could damage your tastebuds and the cells responsible for smell. As a result, food may taste blander and smells can become weaker. But stopping smoking can help your sense of smell and taste to recover.
Gum disease (gingivitis and periodontitis)
Gum disease is when the tissues that hold your teeth in place become infected and inflamed. In its early stages, gum disease is known as gingivitis. More advanced gum disease is called periodontitis.
You’re twice as likely to develop gum disease from smoking. Smoking causes plaque – a sticky layer of bacteria – to build up around your teeth. It also reduces the flow of oxygen and blood to your gums, making it harder for your gums to fight infection and heal properly.
If gum disease is left untreated, the supporting structures that hold your teeth in place can weaken. Sometimes, your teeth may even become loose or fall out.
Mouth cancer
Mouth cancer, also known as oral cancer, can affect your lips, tongue, throat, or the roof or floor of your mouth. Smoking is one of the biggest risk factors for mouth cancer. Almost 2 in every 3 cases of mouth cancer are linked to smoking.
Tobacco contains at least 70 carcinogens (substances that can cause cancer) that can damage the cells in your mouth and lead to mouth cancer. But it’s not just the tobacco in cigarette smoke that’s harmful. Chewing, sucking, or sniffing smokeless tobacco products also significantly increases your risk of mouth cancer. This includes products like chewing tobacco, paan and nasal snuff, which are often popular among South Asian communities.
Delayed healing after dental treatment
If you smoke, it can take longer for your mouth to heal after a dental procedure such as a tooth removal or dental implants. Smoking reduces the flow of blood and oxygen to your mouth. This can slow down healing and make it harder for your body to fight infection.
If you have a tooth taken out, you’re also more likely to develop a painful condition called dry socket. This is when a blood clot doesn’t form properly in the gap left behind by your tooth. Smoking also increases the chance that dental implants won’t be successful.
Speaker Susie Lloyd, Associate Dentist at Bupa Dental Care: So most people are aware that smoking is detrimental to their general health but very few are aware that it can also affect their oral health- their gums and their teeth. One of the main things that it causes is tooth loss, gum disease, stained teeth, and if taken more seriously and it can even cause mouth cancer
Why are my teeth stained?
Susie Lloyd: So the products in cigarettes and tobacco, namely tar, can cause the teeth to start to look yellow and even brown over time. There are products out in the market that can help you with that but it's worth bearing in mind that they don't change the inherent colour of the teeth, they just help to remove that extrinsic staining
Will smoking really affect my gums and teeth
Susie Lloyd: Yes I'm afraid it will one of the things that it causes is constriction, vasoconstriction of the small blood vessels in the gums. Simply put this is bad because it stops nutrients being brought into the tissues and the gums and it stops toxins from being taken out. So the healing capacity of the gums is slowed down and therefore the gums are more likely to develop gum disease.Are there special products I can use?
Susie Lloyd: Yes, there's quite a few different whitening type toothpaste that can be used for sneakers. It's worth being aware that these are quite abrasive products though. So you may wish to speak to your dental team about whether it's good to use them all the time.
Most dental teams would recommend that you alternate the use of quite abrasive toothpaste with just a normal fluoride toothpaste.
As a smoker as well you also want to be very aware that you keep up with your interdental cleaning. So the use of floss and interdental brushes as well as brushing well with a toothbrush.
If I smoke how often should I visit the dentist?
You should visit your dentist for a regular dental checkup and your dentist will tell you what the recall interval should be dependent on your risk. It is really important though as a heavy smoker or drinker that you do go to the dentist regularly because the dentist will be looking for early signs of changes of the skin inside your mouth.
Will my dentist be able to tell if I smoke?
Yes I'm afraid they will. There's a few telltale signs that they'll be looking out for. So one of the things is that you see less bleeding when you check the gums. You can also see a little bit more bacterial buildup on the tongue so a little bit more debris. You also can see some telltale white patches around the mouth and the palette (the roof of the mouth) often looks slightly paler.
Are vapes/smokeless tobacco products better for dental health?
Susie Lloyd: The truth of the matter here is that at the moment we just don't know. There's not enough long-term research to really suggest the effect that vaping long term has.
What we do know is that it would be better than smoking traditional cigarettes or chewing of tobacco. But it's not going to be as healthy for you as quitting altogether.
If you think about what you're doing when you're vaping, essentially you're continually sucking in a load of vapour which contains a mixture of different chemicals. So we just don't know if that's safe for you or not.
Is vaping as bad for your teeth as smoking?
Vaping is when you use a small electronic device (also called an e-cigarette) to breathe in a mist, or vapour. This vapour is made by heating a liquid that usually contains nicotine, flavourings, and other chemicals. Some people use vaping as an alternative to smoking, but it still carries health risks.
Compared to smoking, vaping is still relatively new, so experts don’t yet know the long-term effects. But early research suggests that if you already smoke, switching to vaping may be better for your gum health than continuing to smoke tobacco.
That said, vaping could possibly:
- dry out your mouth, which allows bacteria to thrive and can lead to tooth decay
- increase your risk of gum disease, compared to people who don’t smoke at all
It’s best not to smoke or vape at all. But if you are a smoker, UK experts think that switching to vaping is a healthier choice and could help you quit.
How can I maintain oral health while smoking?
Giving up smoking is the best way to protect your teeth and gums and lower your risk of mouth cancer. Your doctor or dentist can give you advice on how to quit smoking. You’re three times more likely to quit smoking successfully if you have a support network and use stop smoking aids like vapes and nicotine patches.
But giving up smoking can take time, and it’s normal to attempt to stop a few times before it works. Until then, the following can help you take care of your mouth.
- Visit your dentist for regular check-ups. They can look out for early signs of mouth cancer as well as signs of gum disease that may have been masked by smoking.
- Use mouthwash if you have bad breath. It won’t get rid of the problem but can help freshen your breath.
We have over 360 private and NHS practices across the UK, offering general dentistry, orthodontics and cosmetic dental services.
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Sources Sources
- Smoking and oral health. Oral Health Foundation. dentalhealth.org, accessed August 2025
- Bad breath. Oral Health Foundation. dentalhealth.org, accessed August 2025
- Fraga Da Re A, Goncalves Gurgel L et al. Tobacco influence on taste and smell: Systematic review of the literature. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2017; 13; 22(1): 81-87 doi: 10.1055/s-0036-1597921
- Delivering better oral health: an evidence-based toolkit for prevention. Department of Health and Social Care. www.gov.uk, updated November 2021
- Smoking, gum disease and tooth loss. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. cdc.gov, last reviewed February 2025
- Gum disease. Oral Health Foundation. dentalhealth.org, accessed August 2025
- Mouth cancer risk factors. Oral Health Foundation. dentalhealth.org, accessed August 2025
- What’s in a cigarette? Cancer Research UK. cancerresearchuk.org, last reviewed June 2023
- Balaji SM. Tobacco smoking and surgical healing of oral tissues. Indian Journal of Dental Research 2008; 19(4): 344-4 doi: 10.4103/0970-9290.44540
- Tobacco: E-cigarettes. World Health Organization. who.int, published January 2024
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- Iacob AM, Escobedo Martinez MF et al. Effects of vape use on oral health: A review of the literature. Medicina (Kaunas) 2024; 60(3): 365 doi: 10.3390/medicina60030365
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