New forms of smoking also harm oral health.
Experts and the most recent studies state that electronic cigarettes also hurt general and oral health.
To maintain proper oral health, avoiding tobacco in any form is crucial. Although there is a growing idea that the new forms of smoking are less toxic and harmful, experts and the most recent studies state that electronic cigarettes also hurt general and oral health.
The problem of smoking is usually associated with cigarette consumption, but there are more ways of consuming this drug, some of which are very new. In addition to cigarettes, for some time now, and as part of the strategy of seeking new consumers and making the habit attractive to younger people, new and increasingly sophisticated products have come into play. These include electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and we must not forget the increasingly widespread use of hookahs or water pipes.
According to experts, the new forms of consumption, electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco, are as toxic as regular cigarettes. They cause the same pathology, pulmonary, cardiovascular, and tumor. The oral cavity's pathology has not shown any damage reduction and is just as dangerous as manufactured cigarettes.
E-cigarettes and periodontitis
According to a recent study from Ohio State University (USA), regular use of electronic cigarettes may be linked to periodontitis. For the first time, this research examined the bacteria in the mouths of young, healthy people who vape.
Plaque samples were collected from under the gums of 123 people who showed no signs of oral disease: 25 smokers, 25 non-smokers, 20 e-cigarette users, 25 ex-smokers who used e-cigarettes, and 28 who maintained smoking and vaping habits at the same time. The researchers have evidenced, as revealed in the article published in "Science Advances," that the collection of oral bacteria in the mouths of daily e-cigarette users is full of potent infection-causing organisms, placing vapers as an essential risk factor for developing diseases ranging from periodontitis to cancer.
For the oral health team, in addition to making a correct diagnosis and carrying out oral treatments, it is a priority to identify and try to positively interfere with all those modifiable risk factors.
Much can be done in the dental office. From this privileged place, much can be done for oral health and the patient's general health. The dental office is an ideal place to identify tobacco consumption among patients and, in the same way, to encourage them and help them to start a smoking cessation process.
