Not only does tobacco affect the health of your body, it may also severly wear away your tooth enamel, according to research done at Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas. Researchers examined samples of tobacco products from brands of cigars, snuff and chewing tobacco and several unprocessed tobacco leaves.

They found that these tobacco products, like many plants, contain tiny silica particles that are known to be abrasive to teeth. When tobacco products are mixed with saliva and chewed, an abrasive paste is formed that, over time, can wear down teeth.

Because the size of most particles are minute, the chewer doesn't perceive of the product as being too gritty.

The authors, who published their findings in the March issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association, found that people who habitually chew non-edible materials, consume a coarse diet, or are repeatedly exposed to air that contains high levels of abrasive dust can experience increase tooth enamel and dentin abrasion.

Although researchers have known for sometime that people who use tobacco products are more likely to suffer from abrasion than people who don't chew any tobacco products, until now, researchers don't know what caused this. The authors found that on average, insolubile silica comprised 0.5 percent of the weight of an average tobacco sample.

Besides wearing away your tooth enamel, another good reason to avoid tobacco products is that they are known to cause oral lesions such as leukoplakia, a sign of precancerous condition and cancer itself. Smokeless tobacco has been linked to an increased risk for oral cancer. Nationwide 30,000 cases of oral cancer are diagnosed each year and 9,000 deaths are attributed to oral cancer.