The ill effects of smoking are known to many, but here is a study that has revealed evidence of how smoking can permanently impact your teeth.
A study by researchers from Northumbria University, UK, revealed the tell-tale signs that remain despite quitting the habit.
A tooth consists of three main hard tissues. They are enamel, dentine and cementum. The cementum covers the tooth root and develops characteristic 'rings' just like tree rings, that grow each year as we age.
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To support their claim, researchers analysed 88 teeth, where they observed disruption to the cementum rings in some teeth, but not in others.
Further, evidence of damage due to smoking was found in teeth from 70 per cent of ex-smokers and 33 per cent of current smokers, compared to three per cent of non-smokers.
"Our research shows that it's possible to tell if someone was a smoker just by examining their teeth," said author Edward Schwalbe.
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It was found that cementum is thicker in past smokers which could be a result of it returning to normal levels when one stops smoking, leaving thicker deposits on the damaged rings of the cementum. Whereas current smokers continue to have disruption to their cementum levels, the researchers said.
The study also throws light on the lifestyle and how the analysis can be utilised in archaeological studies where patterns of tobacco use can reveal important cultural insights and how these habits affected populations' health through time.
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