Teeth whitening can make your smile shine—but if you’re a smoker, the result may not be long-lasting. Whitening treatments remove surface stains and restore the natural tooth color you may have lost due to colored food, beverages, and tobacco. But nonstop smoking can disrupt the process and reverse the treatment outcome within days. If you plan to undergo a whitening treatment, knowing how smoking can reverse the result can influence your lifestyle.
Let’s check out how smoking affects the way teeth whiten—and what you can do.
What Does Smoking Do to Your Teeth?
Cigarettes have tar and nicotine. When burned, they produce chemicals that leave a sticky residue on your enamel. Over time, this results in:
- Yellow or brown discolorations, particularly along the gumline
- A darker tooth shade
- Rough enamel that holds more plaque and staining particles
Simply put, smoking alters the color and texture of your teeth, making them more challenging to clean and more susceptible to new stains.
How Whitening Treatments Work
Whitening treatments, whether in-office or take-home, contain safe levels of hydrogen peroxide. This substance dissolves stains into minute particles, making teeth appear whiter.
Yet, all these treatments do not alter the enamel structure. New stains take no time to appear for a smoker compared to a non-smoker if one continues to smoke post-treatment.
Why Smoking Affects Whitening Results
This is what usually happens if you smoke after whitening:
- Results become less effective sooner. Nicotine and tar stick easily to freshly whitened teeth.
- Stains can recur unevenly. Whitened spots become blotchy as new stains develop.
- Whitening products can be less successful. Smokers tend to have deeper stains that even whitening products might fail to eliminate.
Even with a good whitening technique, smoking makes it more challenging to maintain your whitening for an extended period.
What Can You Do?
If you smoke but want whiter teeth, you can take action:
- Quit or cut back on smoking to lengthen whitening effects
- Do not smoke for a minimum of 24–48 hours post-treatment, as your enamel is prone to stains now
- Use daily oral hygiene with fluoride toothpaste
- Whitening toothpaste helps to decelerate surface stains
- Bi-yearly dental cleanings at our Salt Lake City dental office
To maintain your white smile after treatment, your dentist may recommend alternatives like whitening trays or touch-up procedures. Learn more tips for keeping your smile bright after teeth whitening.
Did You Know?
Years of research show that smokers achieve much less benefit from whitening than non-smokers and experience more stain recurrence within six months. Smokers also tend to accumulate more plaque, which can disrupt the efficacy of whitening procedures.
If you are thinking about teeth whitening in Salt Lake City, remember this: what you do after the treatment is just as important as what you do before/during the treatment.