Healing from Oral Surgery for Smokers

Posted on 9/15/2016 by Alyssa O'Steen

A woman smoking causing harm to her oral health.

Your dentist may have explained to you that it is more difficult for smokers to heal from oral surgery than non-smokers.

This is true. For patients who smoke nicotine, oral surgery has a much higher rate of failure and an increased chance of excessive bleeding.

Due to these problems, you may not be considered a candidate for oral surgery.

How does smoking slow a healing response?

Nicotine causes blood vessels to tighten and narrow. This response slows blood flow to areas of the body, not allowing the body to respond as it should.

Because of this, smoking cigarettes interferes with your body's immune system. Dental surgery, along with any type of surgery, requires adequate healing in order to abate infection, to not rupture the wound, avoid necrosis, and to allow the tissue to heal without developing significant scar tissue.

Patients who smoke have a more difficult time healing following a dental procedure because nicotine inhibits the blood flow needed. This causes:

•	Excessive bleeding - Because the wound can not heal quickly, the potential for bleeding is lengthened.
•	Possibility of the sutured wound rupturing - There is a certain amount of trust that the wound will be healing within a certain time period, nicotine lengthens that time, exacerbating the amount of time that a wound can open.
•	Necrosis - This is the death of cells. When there is a failure of blood supply, there is the possibility of cells dying instead of healing as they should.
•	Scar Tissue - With the wound being unable to heal appropriately, the possibility of developing scar tissue increases. Scar tissue can cause an unevenness, or bulkiness of tissue, disrupting other neighboring areas.

The sooner you stop smoking, the faster your body can heal from the damage done. Please contact us if you have any questions about smokings effect your oral health.

Dr. Shillingburg and the amazing team at DFW Oral Surgeons are proud to provide exceptional care, including wisdom teeth removal, dental implants, and many other services to residents in and around Argyle, Bartonville, Highland Village, Lantana, Double Oak, South Denton, Denton County, and surrounding areas. Not only has Dr. Shillingburg won best Oral Surgeon of Denton County in 2017 and 2018. He has over 10 years of experience treating patients in his state-of-the-art outpatient surgery center in Flower Mound, TX.

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John C. Shillingburg, DDS

Certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons

Best of Denton County 2019 Committed to Community Excellence - DFW Oral Surgeons

Dr. John Shillingburg is proud to be a native Texan. After graduating from Texas A&M with a bachelor's degree in Biomedical Science and from the University of Texas Dental School in San Antonio with a doctorate degree in dental science, Dr. Shillingburg completed a general dentistry residency at Fort Carson in Colorado. Read more.

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