Metal Mouth Message Board

I am finding it verrrry hard to quit.

I had to go back five sets of aligners recently, and I thought it was because I was smoking but I absolutely wasn't wearing them enough (I know that now that I'm really wearing them 22 hours a day).

I know I have to quit smoking anyway but I wonder if it's true that nicotine affects movement. Thanks.

Scorpette,
Congrats on getting started improving your smile! Don't you think now is a great time to work on improving your general health by quitting your smoking habit?

Smoking can do a lot of damage to your teeth, gums, and mouth. It stains your teeth, can cause serious periodontal disease and the most common cause of oral cancer, not to mention lung cancer. It doesn't make your teeth move any faster, that's for sure. I don't remember any specific articles, but if I remember correctly, it decreases blood flow to the gums and the cells that are responsible for absorbing and reforming the bone that your teeth are moving, thus slowing things down. Don't quote me on it, but from experience I notice that my patients who smoke have slower-moving teeth.

There are ways to get help with kicking the habit, ask your orthodontist, dentist, or physician for help if you need it!

In terms of invisalign, wearing them enough is the biggest key to success, more than smoking, honestly.

I smoke with my invisalign braces on. They don't stain. I have tips and advice for cleaning them on my blog [since we're not aloud to post links on this forum, i seperated the link into pices but please be aware that when you type this url into your browser's address bar, there are no spaces] http: //invisaligng4. blogspot. com/

You are allowed to post links on the forum after you become a "regular" member (about 10 posts).

The reason you are not allowed to post links as a new member (under 10 posts) is because that is often what spammers do -- all they want to do is spam up the board with their crappy links. So we want to make sure that you have more to say than just showing people your URL to gain SEO.

For the record, smoking puts toxic chemicals into your body. Rather than finding ways to smoke with Invisalign, it would be better to find ways to quit smoking.