Brookway Dental
601-823-3200
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Health and Well-Being
Chewing (Smokeless) Tobacco
Chewing tobacco is terrible for your teeth!
Not only is that pinch between your cheek and gum giving you unsightly stains and bad breath, it's also a hot spot for gum disease, decay, and oral cancer. On top of that, you have to worry about stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, diabetes, bladder cancer, heart disease, clogged arteries and strokes.
On the image to the right, the white spots (yellow circle) on the gum line are not cancerous yet, but for one out of 20 people, oral cancer will develop from these spots.
Case in point: Sean Marsee of Ada, Oklahoma, lifted weights and ran the 400-meter relay. By the time he was 18 years old, he had won 28 medals. To keep his body strong, he didn't smoke or drink. But he did use smokeless tobacco, because he thought it was harmless.
When oral cancer was discovered, part of Sean's tongue was removed. But the cancer had spread. More surgeries followed, including removal of his jawbone. Just before he died, Sean wrote (he no longer could speak) this plea to his peers: "Don't dip snuff."
He died at age nineteen.