Each year the American Cancer Society sponsors the Great American Smokeout. This is an event to encourage Americans to stop tobacco use. The Great American Smokeout challenges smokers to quit cigarettes for 24 hours with the hopes that this decision will continue forever.
Many know that smoking can affect your overall health, but smoking can also be harmful to your oral health.
Some of the negative effects of smoking and tobacco use include:
- Bad Breath
- Stained Teeth
- Dulled Sense of Taste and Smell
- Slow Healing After Extraction or Oral Surgery
- Gum Disease
- Oral Cancer
We know that changing habits can be hard, but we believe in you, we know you can do it!
In 2021 we shared Rita’s story. She has been a patient of ours for 50 years!!! We are happy to share that it has been 4 years since we posted her story and she is still smoke-FREE! Below is her original story. We hope she inspires you as much as she has inspired us!
Meet Rita
I started smoking my first year in college. That was 55 years ago. Many of us sat in the student union building to smoke, talk and eat while we were waiting for our next class. For me, it was a chance to meet friends. I moved to California with my parents the summer of my senior year in high school and didn’t have a chance to make many new friends that year.
Actually, I liked to smoke and liked my brand of cigarettes, Virginia Slims. You know the ad, “You’ve come a long way, baby!” This was the first cigarette brand marketed specifically for women by Phillip Morris in 1968.
One day in July, 2021 I had my dental checkup and cleaning with Dr. Tiffany. She said to me, “You have to quit these things. I can clean your teeth, but I can’t fix this!” (Referring to the damage being done by smoking). Well, her words kept ringing in my ears. I had a talk with myself and a couple of weeks later, I told the people who order my cigarettes that I would be quitting. I thoroughly enjoyed my last Virginia Slim cigarette and then quit cold turkey the next morning.
Here I am, three months later, and I can report that I never had any physical withdrawal. I was more tired, and a little fidgety. That’s it. When the time is right, you can do it!
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