It’s common knowledge that smoking is bad for one’s teeth. For regular cigarettes there are countless studies proving it’s cause and effect on health—but what about e-cigarettes? E-cigarettes are a battery operated vaporizer that produced an aerosol instead of smoke and is supposed to be preferable as it uses a lower level of nicotine. This type of nicotine inhalation is still relatively new to determine its effects on oral health. Monitoring The Future (MTF), an annual study conducted by the University of Michigan, recently published their annual results that surveyed tobacco, marijuana and vaping use in 8th, 10th and 12th-grade students nationally. The numbers were surprising. For the first time, e-cigarette use has surpassed regular cigarette use in teens. Among 8th and 10th graders, e-cigarette use is twice as common as normal cigarette use. As more teens turn to this inhalation choice, one wonders—what effect does smoking e-cigarettes, also known as ‘vaping,’ have on a patient’s teeth? Vaping’s been around since 2007, and comes in different scents and tastes. The vaping process doesn’t stain teeth or cause a foul order and plaque calcification, but it does dry out the mouth as it eliminates moisture, disrupts salvia production which can leave teeth susceptible to tooth decay and bacteria buildup. E-cigs are also similar to regular cigarettes because they can cause periodontal diseases due to nicotine ingestion. The real concern here is that teenagers are increasing their use of e-cigarettes. Due to their young age and developmental state of their teeth, the habits they instill during this time is critical to their dental future. Although there hasn’t been specific proof that vaping is harmful to dental health, it will be interesting to see how current teen’s teeth who indulge in this activity will fair in twenty years. From the 30s through 50s, cigarettes were touted as being healthy…from doctors. Are e-cigarettes being treated the same now? Just because there isn't enough research proving vaping is bad for teeth, it doesn’t rule out that it very well may be—unfortunately it’s too early to tell.
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