2023-06-13 08:57:22
Vapers or electronic cigarettes can carry some risks for oral health, according to the General Council of Dentists of Spain, which warns that these devices can alter taste, inflame gums and cause oral cancer.
The use of electronic cigarettes is often referred to as vaping. EFE/Sebastien Nogier
The studies that have been carried out so far (still scarce) show evidence that vapers, like conventional tobacco, “also have negative consequences for oral health,” the dentists point out in a statement.
The representative body for dentists in Spain points out that electronic cigarettes contain toxic substances and that they can be a way for young people to start smoking conventional tobacco.
Potential detrimental effects include increased risk of oral cancer and a “clear impact on periodontal disease.”
And among these, vaping can give rise to a microbial dysbiosis that can favor or worsen periodontal disease and develop periodontal pockets.
“It is known that certain bacteria, such as Selenomonas, Leptotrichia or Saccharibacteria, are very present in the microbiome of smokers and it is thought that they are also present in vaping users. Fusobacterum and Bacteroides have also been found in the microbiome of these people”, explains the Doctor Óscar Castro, president of the General Council of Dentists of Spain.
“This dysbiosis or alteration of the microbiome -he adds- alters the immune response of the host, worsening the evolution of periodontal pathology”.
Teenagers, more linked to vapers
In a survey carried out by the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (semFYC) and cited by dentists, 19.2% of adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 smoke, an age range that, precisely, is more linked to electronic cigarettes or vapers (20.8%); 14.3% to the hookah; and 13.1% to conventional cigarettes. In addition, 7.5% consume tobacco mixed with cannabis.
The doctor-stomatologist insists on the danger of all these habits: “They invite you to fall into conventional smoking and are also harmful, since they contain toxic and carcinogenic elements, even those that do not contain nicotine. Among its effects are oral cancer, dry mouth, impaired sense of taste and inflammation of the gums.
And he stresses that the consumption of tobacco in any of its forms, such as vapers, represents “a serious threat” to health, specifically oral health, and the well-being of future generations, who will see how their quality of life worsens if no action is taken.
“It is essential to implement preventive and educational actions aimed at young people that address the risks associated with smoking and that promote a healthy lifestyle. Finally, patients should know that dentists are physicians who can offer advice and help to all those who want to overcome this addiction”, demands the president of the spanish dentists.
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