Can You Smoke Weed With Braces? Get the Straight Facts

The burning question on everyones lips is “Can you smoke weed with braces? Smoking and braces don’t mix. Just don’t do it. Having braces while smoking puts the teeth at risk of severe staining. In addition, smoking can also lead to a number of oral health problems after braces are removed.

Everyone knows that smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products can be extremely harmful for our long-term health in a many different ways.  People widely associate smoking cigarettes with conditions that affect our lungs but they do not consider oral health or throat cancer as major health concerns associated with it too.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How Important is Oral Health and Braces?

• When people get braces it’s very important that they continue to maintain their oral health and regularly visit the family dentist for check-ups and cleaning.
• If a person gets braces and continues to smoke cigarettes, this also works against their overall oral health even further. Furthermore, they can risk severely staining their teeth (and clear aligners) and having them not recover their original clean and white exterior when orthodontic appliances have been removed.

What Exactly Happens?

• Smoking constricts blood vessels in gums, the bone, and in periodontal ligaments. It also promotes bone loss and gum disease which will need to be treated by a Periodontist. The CDC has stated that 47.2% of adults 30 years or older have periodontitis. This is something to take into consideration if you are an adult smoker, and you are looking from 18 months and two years wearing braces.
• The brackets and wires turn pale yellow which shows up against the darker yellow staining of the teeth ruining the subtle effect of invisible braces.

Some Bad Things Can Happen When You Smoke

• Gum disease
• Stained, yellow teeth
• Plaque, leading to tooth decay and bone loss
• Bad breath (halitosis)
• Risk of throat cancer
• Extended healing time
• Extra cleaning time for braces and teeth

How Does Smoking Affect Clean Teeth?

Smoking can reduce someone’s ability to fight off tooth decay by making their mouth far more prone to plaque and all those extra toxins (over a thousand) that are ingested through smoking. Smoking cigarettes and tobacco products can actually cause major damage to the bones in your mouth as well as your gums. Regularly smoking while you have wearing orthodontic appliances will only add to these concerns.

If you are committed to having a healthier mouth and to really straightening you teeth you should also consider giving up smoking so that you can hold onto your perfectly straight and healthy smile and maintain your overall oral health for life. If you are willing to quit smoking when you receive your braces you can experience a number of great health benefits. And you can severely reduce your risk of oral health issues that are associated with smoking. The money you save on cigarettes will even pay for a significant portion of your orthodontic treatment in next to no time.

In case you were wondering, smokeless tobacco is not an alternative. It will have the same negative impact and will also stain ceramic braces, ligatures, and Invisalign clear aligners as with that of cigarettes or pipes. It can also get caught in the brackets of the braces which can further cause yellowing stains on your teeth. Vapes and electronic cigarettes do not contain tar or tobacco that typically cause tooth discoloration, but most of them do contain nicotine.

How Does Smoking Affect my Overall Health and Wellbeing?

Making a commitment to straighten your teeth should also involve an overall commitment to improving your oral health. Much of the damage that smoking cigarettes may have inside your mouth is completely reversible if you are willing to abstain from this bad habit entirely.

If you’re willing to quit cigarettes for even just a few months you will soon notice an overall positive increase in your lung capacity. Also, there is a greatly reduced risk of oral health issues such as gum disease. If you keep up your smoke-free habits after your orthodontic treatment for up to 5 years you can reduce the risk of cancer in your mouth which is another major concern in oral health issues for habitual smokers.

What if I Quit Smoking?

The damage smoking causes to your mouth is easily reversed when you abstain from smoking during orthodontic treatment. Your oral health and overall lung function will improve. Doctors would recommend you quit for your treatment. Additionally, after treatment you’ll be a non-smoker. We recommend you prepare yourself before treatment starts.  Slowly lower the number of cigarettes you have a day. This will make it easier to quit when the braces are put on. Remember, habits are formed, but can also be broken.

People Also Ask

Can you vape with braces?

In some cases, vaping may have an adverse effect on the effectiveness of your treatment. The downside of e-cigarettes is that they do not contain tobacco, but they do contain nicotine, which poses a threat to oral health. There is a possibility that nicotine can reduce blood flow, resulting in your gums receding and causing the gum tissue to die. There is also a possibility that this can cause pain, swelling, and inflammation of the gums, as well as an increased risk of cavities and tooth sensitivity.

There is also the risk of tooth loss. It is only natural for gum disease to occur in an environment where there is a high level of bacteria and tooth decay, as well as a dry mouth caused by nicotine.

Can an orthodontist tell if you smoke cigarettes?

They sure can! There are numerous negative effects of smoking, tobacco, and even vaping on your health, but your orthodontist is not here to judge your lifestyle choices. Rather, they can provide you with solutions and advice about how to quit and restore better oral health!

Does smoking with braces leave stains?

Teeth and braces can be stained by smoking. Intense bad breath and stains persist even when not smoking, due to smoke particles remaining in the lungs. During the removal process, there may be a noticeable discoloration around brackets where smoking has caused discoloration.

Can you smoke with retainers?

Smokers and vapers wearing aligners while participating in these activities can stain the clear trays with nicotine and tar. In spite of the fact that smokers remove the aligners when they smoke, the nicotine and tar that linger in the mouth can discolor the aligners.

Can you smoke with braces Reddit Q and A

Aside from blogs like ours it’s always good to gather more information on forums such as Reddit, click here to read the latest points of view.

Can you smoke weed with braces?

Smoking weed and having braces have little to no correlation. We see problems only if you get the munchies and eat without properly maintaining your dental hygiene. Besides that, you can eat what you want. Your mind is another matter, you can read more comments here.

Can I use chewing tobacco with braces instead?

When you chew or smoke tobacco, you immediately damage your overall health, which includes your mouth and teeth. Tobacco use weakens the gums and jaw bone while increasing plaque formation on teeth. Gum disease and oral cancer can be caused by the toxins produced by chewing and smoking tobacco.

Conclusion

It’s not recommended to smoke weed while wearing braces because it can damage the braces and prolong treatment time. Besides staining your teeth and giving you bad breath, smoking can also cause tooth decay. When you have questions or concerns about your braces treatment, you should speak to an orthodontist. Make sure you follow the orthodontist’s instructions to keep your teeth and gums healthy.

Perry Stevens

Perry heads up a dynamic marketing team that has help the leading orthodontic practices in the USA 10X their business for over a decade. He’s a tea connoisseur, avid reader, traveling and grower of exotic fruits in his permaculture food forest.