Unexpected Consequences of Vaping: Dental Decay
Does Vaping Cause Cavities?
You have most likely heard of the risks associated with smoking. Smoking causes many diseases, including cancer, lung, and heart problems. Smoking is directly linked to poor breath, tooth staining, gum disease, oral cancer, and other dental problems.
Due to the vast number of health effects associated with smoking, some people have switched to using electronic cigarettes or vapes. However, the use of vapes is not without its consequences. It can lead to organ damage, breathing issues, and other diseases.
Apart from the potential dangers of vaping on the heart and lungs, a growing body of research demonstrates that the chemicals in e-cigarettes or vapes begin to harm your body right where they enter it: your mouth. Researchers from the Science Journal found that e-cigarette aerosol altered host response and promoted gum inflammation or periodontitis. The study showed that as much as 42.5% of users that vaped had periodontal gum disease or oral infections, which is significantly lower when compared to the 72.5% seen in people that smoked. Only 28.2% of people who neither smoked nor vaped had the response.
What is vaping?
Vaping is the practice of inhaling a mist or vapor into your lungs using a portable electronic device. A liquid containing nicotine, THC, flavoring, propylene glycol, and other additives is heated in an electronic cigarette, vape pen, or other nicotine delivery device (ENDS) to create an aerosol that is inhaled through a mouthpiece.
Generally, vaping is adopted by people who want to quit smoking, as it is less of a health threat than cigarette smoking. Smoking damages almost all of your body's organs, including your heart. Not only smokers, even people that breathe in secondhand smoke from burning tobacco products or the one that is breathed out by a smoker have an increased risk of coronary heart disease, including heart attack and stroke. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the US, secondhand smoking contributes to roughly 34,000 early deaths from coronary heart disease among nonsmokers each year. When secondhand smoke is inhaled at home or work, nonsmokers have a 25–30% higher chance of getting heart disease.
Due to the serious negative effects of smoking, many people become tempted to turn to electronic cigarettes or vape pens, as a way of easing the transition from conventional smoking to permanent quitting. However, most people get caught up again.
What Are Some Myths About Vaping?
Can vaping help you quit smoking?
Contrary to what many people think, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not believe that vaping is a safe and reliable method for assisting smokers in quitting. While some studies have found that vaping is more successful in helping people to stop smoking than other nicotine replacement therapies like nicotine patches, there are still concerns that the majority of people continued vaping even after quitting smoking. This means as they vaped, they continued to consume nicotine and other harmful chemicals. On the other hand, findings have shown that vaping can even increase youths' likelihood of starting smoking.
Does vaping emit only harmless water vapor?
Vape devices do not produce water vapor, although the word "vapor" is frequently used to describe them. Instead, vaping generates a mist of aerosol which contains extremely small particles that are breathed into the lungs.
It is safer to vape than to smoke?
While there’s some truth to this belief, people that vape also breathe in hazardous substances like the solvent acetone. When it comes in contact with your skin or eyes, acetone might irritate you. With time, the dangerous substances in vapes can even lead to cancer.
Both smoking and vaping are harmful to human health. The evidence that is currently available suggests that smoking is more dangerous than vaping. Nevertheless, this does not imply that vaping is healthy.
It is easier to quit vaping than smoking cigarettes?
Twenty cigarettes' worth of addictive nicotine can be found in just one vape pod. Generally, vaping makes you want to vape more because it stimulates your brain to anticipate even more nicotine. Teenage brains are particularly vulnerable to nicotine's effects. As such, quitting vaping might become more difficult than you think. It can raise the possibility that youngsters will eventually start smoking as well.
What are the health effects of vaping?
Vaping comes with numerous unhealthy effects on the human body. It can affect the lungs, heart, brain, and gums/mouth.
Heart problems
According to two new studies sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), long-term use of vaping products, such as electronic cigarettes, can significantly damage the body's blood vessels, and raise the risk of cardiovascular disease. Moreover, using both conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes together may result in an even higher risk than using any of these products alone.
Your heart health may also be impacted by vaping nicotine. Nicotine causes an increase in heart rate and increases the risk of having a heart attack by raising blood pressure and adrenaline levels. Consequently, there is a higher risk of developing coronary artery disease and blood circulation complications. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), some e-cigarettes deliver even more nicotine than traditional cigarettes. If you are not aware, nicotine is a toxic and very addicting substance. Its intake can result in an increase in heart rate, raise blood pressure, and cause artery constriction. In addition to contributing to artery wall hardening, nicotine may also increase the risk of a heart attack.
Possible brain damage
This negative effect is also associated with the nicotine content of vapes. Persistent intake of nicotine can alter the formation of synapses, which can be harmful to the regions of the brain that regulate attention and learning.
Research-based findings have shown that one of the last brain regions to fully mature and continue developing during adolescence is the prefrontal cortex, which is in charge of executive functions and attention performance. Because of this, the developing adolescent brain is in a state of imbalance that makes it prone to the effects of psychoactive drugs like nicotine.
Lung issues
Many harmful compounds, such as acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, are produced by e-cigarettes. Lung and heart disease can both be brought on by these aldehydes. Apart from the aldehydes, acrolein, a herbicide usually employed to destroy weeds, is also included in e-cigarettes. Asthma and lung cancer are possible side effects of taking acrolein. This is in addition to COPD and severe lung injury.
Mouth and gum problems
Due to the mouth-drying effects of vaping, there will be less saliva in your mouth, which will allow plaque-forming bacteria to flourish and even develop an infection below the gumline. If left untreated, this infection may progress into periodontal disease or gingivitis.
Besides, scientific findings have already shown a strong correlation between vaping and gum disease, with as much as 42.5% of people that vape showing periodontal gum disease or oral infections.
What are dental cavities?
A cavity, also known as tooth decay, is a hole that develops in your tooth. Cavities start small and get larger over time if left untreated. It can be challenging to identify the presence of one because many cavities don't initially hurt. That being said, cavities can best be identified by routine dental checkups.
Cavities are among the most common health problems in the world. Children, teenagers, and elderly people are particularly susceptible to them. However, cavities can affect anyone with teeth, even young infants.
Cavities are brought on by several things like the buildup of oral bacteria, regular intake of snacks, drinking sugary beverages, and not brushing your teeth properly. If left untreated, cavities get deeper and can harm your teeth's inner structures. This may result in tooth loss, an infection, and excruciating tooth pain.
Everyone's mouth contains bacteria. Once you take sugary foods, the bacteria in your mouth act to convert the sugar into acid. Shortly after consuming these sugary foods or beverages, plaque begins to form on your teeth. As a result, it's essential to brush frequently. Plaque adheres to your teeth and contains acid that over time can damage tooth enamel. Your teeth's enamel, a firm, protective layer, shields them from tooth decay. The likelihood of cavities or decay rises as your tooth enamel deteriorates.
Can cavities be prevented?
Of course, the formation of cavities on your teeth can be prevented. The following tips can be found very helpful:
Regular brushing is always key! This means you should strive as much as possible to see that you brush your teeth twice every day with fluoride toothpaste, just as recommended by the American Dental Association. When you brush, you must do so for at least two minutes. This helps rid the mouth and teeth of food materials, debris, and bacteria that can stick around to cause plaque.
Apart from brushing, flossing your teeth once an everyday day can further elevate your oral health. Flossing is important because it can reach places where regular brushing cannot, especially the tiny spaces between your teeth, which can be a perfect reservoir of food debris for plaque-forming bacteria to act upon.
Use good mouthwash to reduce the proliferation of harmful bacteria in your mouth.
Lastly, go for regular dental checkups. Since cavities often come with little to no symptoms at first, dental checkups are the best way to prevent them from occurring.
Does vaping cause cavities?
In a study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA), people who used e-cigarettes or vapes had a higher risk of developing caries or tooth cavities. According to this study's analysis of patient data, people who reported using e-cigarettes or vapes had a considerably higher chance of getting tooth decay than people who did not. The authors went on to suggest that e-cigarettes or vape use should be included as part of a regular dental-medical history survey and also listed as one of the factors that raise the risk of cavities.
In a general sense, vaping is believed to cause dry mouth and decrease the production of saliva — an essential component of a healthy mouth. And experts believe you have a higher risk of gum disease and tooth cavity if you have a dry mouth, also known as xerostomia.
One of the main ingredients in vape juice is propylene glycol, which is generally safe to eat and inhale. However, when used orally, it can break down into acids that can damage the enamel and irritate soft tissue. Propylene glycol can also cause dry mouth. It can do so by taking away some much-needed saliva, thereby, predisposing the mouth to cavities and gum disease.
Saliva helps cleanse your mouth of food particles and other materials while also assisting in the neutralization of acids produced by plaque-causing bacteria. As a result, your chance of developing oral disease will significantly increase if you are unable to generate enough saliva to counter these threats.
Also, tooth decay-causing bacteria prefer a dry environment since it makes it easier for them to attach to your teeth — this allows them to thrive and multiply easily.
Are you concerned that quitting smoking and using vaping as an alternative may have resulted in more dental disease and cavities? Give our dental office in Phoenix, Arizona a call for a comprehensive dental exam. You will not only be evaluted for the effects that vaping may have had on your teeth but our dentist will perform an oral cancer screening and a gum health evaluation. Your oral health and your overall health is our concern! Call today!
REFERENCES
https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(20)30068-7
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/health_effects/heart_disease/index.htm
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cavities/symptoms-causes/syc-20352892
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7233525/V