Home > Quitting > Health warnings (cigarette fact sheets)

Smoking Causes Mouth and Throat Cancer

Graphic Health Warnings - Posters
Printable version of Smoking Causes Mouth and Throat Cancer fact sheet (PDF 42KB)
Graphic Health Warnings Factsheets - Cigarette Packs Set A
Cigar smoking can also lead to mouth cancers.


Front of Cigarette Pack (representation only)	Back of Cigarette Pack (representation only)

Smoking can affect the health of your mouth and throat. As well as the obvious effects such as unsightly stains on your teeth and bad breath, smoking is the major cause of cancers of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, pharynx, larynx (voice box), tongue, lips and salivary glands. ¹^,² The longer you smoke, and the more you smoke, the greater the risk of these cancers. ²

More than 80% of cancers of the mouth, nose and throat occur in people who smoke cigarettes, cigars or pipes. ³

A total of 2,052 Australians died from mouth and throat cancer in 2003 ⁴ and there are over 4,000 new cases of these cancers each year. ⁵

Someone who has ever smoked is up to nine times as likely as a non-smoker to develop one of these cancers. Smokers of one pack a day are 16 times more likely than non-smokers to develop cancer of the larynx. ⁶

Smoking can also lead to gum disease (periodontal disease) and increased tartar on the teeth, which harbours plaque. This can cause serious destruction of the tissues around the teeth, which can result in tooth loss as well as pain. Smoking can also delay the healing of any injured tissues in the mouth, such as ulcers, or following oral surgery. ²

Quitting smoking can significantly reduce your risk of oral cancer and improve your dental health.

Five years after you quit smoking completely the risks of cancers of the mouth, throat and oesophagus are halved. ⁷

Decided to quit smoking? For help, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or call the Quitline on 131 848 or visit the Quitline web site at www.quitnow.info.au .

Sources

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: what it means to you . U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, National Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2004/index.htm
American Council on Science and Health. Cigarettes: What the warning label doesn't tell you. Second edition. New York, American Council on Science and Health, 2003.
The Cancer Council Victoria. Cancers of the Mouth, Nose and Throat. April, 2003. http://www.cancervic.org.au
AIHW Mortality Database.
AIHW: Ridolfo and Stevenson (2001). The quantification of drug-caused mortality and morbidity in Australia, 1998 . AIHW cat. No. PHE 29. Canberra, AIHW. http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/phe/qdcmma98/
Holman & Armstrong et al. (1990). The quantification of drug caused morbidity and mortality in Australia 1988 . Canberra: AGPS.
The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the U.S. Surgeon General . Atlanta, Georgia. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, National Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/index.htm

For copyright permission to use any of these images, please contact quitnow@health.gov.au

Help with accessing large documents

When accessing large documents (over 500 KB in size), it is recommended that the following procedure be used:

Click the link with the RIGHT mouse button
Choose "Save Target As.../Save Link As..." depending on your browser
Select an appropriate folder on a local drive to place the downloaded file

Attempting to open large documents within the browser window (by left-clicking) may inhibit your ability to continue browsing while the document is opening and/or lead to system problems.

Help with accessing PDF documents

To view PDF (Portable Document Format) documents, you will need to have a PDF reader installed on your computer. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available free of charge from Adobe's website.

Smoking and your body

Tobacco use reduces not only your life expectancy but your quality of life. Many medical conditions caused by smoking can result not just in death, but in living for years with disabling health problems.

FIND OUT MORE >

Quitters help

Quitting smoking can be one of the most difficult, yet rewarding things a person can do. Most smokers' say they would like to quit, and may have tried at least once. Some are successful the first time, but many other people try a number of times before they finally give up for good.

FIND OUT MORE >

Health care professionals

Practical information on smoking cessation and effective strategies that general practitioners and other practice staff can apply to identify smokers and assist them to stop smoking.

FIND OUT MORE >

Parents and smoking

Smoking causes many harms to your body but also to those around you that are younger. How does your smoking affect the ones you care for?

FIND OUT MORE >