A timeline of how your body reacts to the lack of nicotine and tar entering its system.

At the Foxhall Dental Practice in Ipswich, we have long encouraged our patients to stop smoking.

Aside from a reduced amount of coughing coming from our waiting room, the benefits of not smoking are not just in better breathing and better health, but, as we’ve addressed before, in a reduction in tooth staining as well as less chance of gum disease and oral cancers.

It should go without saying that stopping smoking alone will not entirely resolve these problems, and ongoing dental care at our Ipswich practice is essential. By cutting out those cigarettes and other tobacco based products though, you will have made a significant start on the way to better oral and general health.

Rather than discuss oral cancers and gum disease this time, we thought that it would be interesting to take a look at the timeline of what actually happens to your body when you quit smoking. We know that many people struggle to quit, and understanding the process of what happens to your body may be helpful.

So .. you have finally stubbed out your last ever cigarette (hopefully) … and the clock starts ticking.

Twenty minutes

Yes, even just twenty minutes after your last cigarette, changes start to happen in your body. Any smoker will tell you that their cigarette gives them a ‘lift’. This is because nicotine is a stimulant, and one which raises both heart rate and blood pressure. Within twenty minutes, your body will start to recover as the effect of the stimulant wears off and your heart rate and BP return to normal.

Eight hours

This is an unpleasant time for many people who quit as it is around the time when those cravings really start to kick in and you may find yourself giving in and lighting another cigarette for relief. When you stop smoking, try to arrange it so that you will be doing something to take your mind of it at this time.

Your first day without a cigarette

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Don’t let your teeth and gums suffer during the holiday season.

Like our own team, we are sure that most of our Ipswich dental patients are looking forward to the forthcoming festivities. It is a time to relax and enjoy time spent with friends and family.

In many ways it is a carefree time, but one that can pose problems for the health of our teeth and gums if we are not careful. This does not mean that you have to be a ‘killjoy’ to protect your teeth, but simply observing a few basic rules can make all the difference for your oral health at this time of the year.

Your festive diet

There is no need to deny yourself the pleasures of Christmas food, but there is a case to be made for keeping an eye on what you eat at this time of the year. As long as we take care to clean our teeth well, they should be capable of withstanding harm from a few indulgent luxuries. That said, we can also help by perhaps not over indulging too much.

It is often not the food that we consume at mealtimes that is the problem. It is usually the bowl of sweets and chocolates that we can conveniently dip our hands into throughout the day. This continual ‘grazing’ means that our teeth are in almost constant contact with sugars throughout the day, and not leaving a break means that the enamel on our teeth doesn’t get the chance to remineralise properly, making it more vulnerable to decay and damage. Try to give your teeth a bit of a break between eating where you can, and perhaps alternate chocolates etc with more tooth friendly foods.

Take care too when eating foods such as Christmas puddings. These are generally soft, but some may also contain nuts. If you are expecting a ‘soft chew’ and your teeth come into contact with a particularly hard ingredient, it could cause the tooth to crack or break, especially if it has already been weakened through having a large filling or root canal treatment in the past. It is probably no longer relevant as this is now a bit of an old fashioned custom, but it should go without saying, that putting a coin in the pudding is a bad idea too!

Alcohol

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It isn’t just ice cream and sugary drinks that can cause erosion and decay of teeth says Louise Bambrick, our dental hygienist.

Although the sun may still be shining and the occasional bit of warmth may still be left, there is little doubt that we are entering the colder part of the year. It can be a beautiful time, with the Autumn leaves and the snowy Winter landscapes ahead, but along with the weather, many of our habits will also change, and not always for the good.

What we eat and drink affects our health, and that includes the health of our teeth and gums as well as our body in general. Whilst the hotter weather usually sees us eat lighter meals, we also often consume a higher number of potentially tooth damaging food and drinks, such as ice creams and fizzy and sugary drinks. Although we are unlikely to consume anywhere near as many of these in the colder months, they are often replaced by food and drinks that are equally damaging.

Enamel damage

At the Foxhall Dental Practice, myself and the hygienist team do our best to educate people on how to prevent dental problems from arising, through better oral care. Cleaning by better brushing and flossing plays a big part in this, but so does diet. Foods that harm the enamel on our teeth mean that they are less well protected from decay than if the enamel remains strong and healthy. Excessive starchy and sugary foods also increases the risk of gum disease as these provide fuel for the bacteria that contribute to it.

In addition to an increased risk of decay, when the enamel wears down, it also exposes the underlying layer, known as the dentin layer. This is a porous material that leaves the nerves within our teeth more exposed. When this happens, an increased sensitivity is likely to be noticed. This can be quite uncomfortable, especially when consuming hot or cold products.

Foods to avoid

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Dr Chirag Kothari offers a dentist’s viewpoint about this recently announced initiative.

Some of our Ipswich patients will have picked up the papers today and read about the ban on sales of energy drinks to children. Whilst a few people may complain about this being a restriction of ‘choice’, the vast majority will, we feel, see this as very good news indeed.

These are exactly the high sugar type of drinks that are thought to be responsible for a dramatic rise in the number of children needing to have teeth extracted in hospital, due to tooth decay.

In many cases, these high energy drinks are not bought simply to give a bit of a boost before or after playing sports or other energy draining activities, but are often used as a replacement for food. This is especially the case where breakfast is concerned and it is far from uncommon to see schoolchildren on their way to school with a can of this type of drink in their hand.

What is wrong with high energy drinks?

There are two main reasons that this ban will hopefully come into being, namely two of the key ingredients in the drink, caffeine and sugar.

The dentists at Foxhall Dental are not doctors, so it is not right that we discuss in too much detail, the caffeine issue. From a dental perspective, there is probably little harm in caffeine on its own (where sugar content is not relevant). The only area that it may affect is when the patient becomes too ‘edgy’ and anxious because of their caffeine intake. This may cause some to grind their teeth, potentially causing dental wear and even breakages.

More generally, caffeine is thought to be responsible for a rise in problems such as stomach problems, inability to sleep properly and hyperactivity. There is a school of though that claims that the fast energy boost provided by these drinks and other high energy foods, leads to a ‘slump’ later on, potentially affecting the child’s ability to focus and learn whilst at school.

High sugar drinks

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