The Connection Between Smoking, Vaping, and Your Teeth

The reputation of smokers’ bad teeth precedes them. It turns their bright white teeth into yellow-brown ones due to nicotine stains.

If presented with comments like this, most vapers would suggest that nicotine in its purest form is colourless. The problem for your teeth from smoking, similar to the health risks, isn’t nicotine. It’s tar.

Do we know what’s true? 

The effects of vaping on dental health have been examined in recent studies, and while they’re a long way from showing problems in real-world vapers, they are indicators that there may be problems in the future.

So here are the findings we know so far about vaping and the teeth and what we can do to help minimize any risk.

What Does Smoking Do To Your Teeth?

Learning how smoking can cause oral health problems can help you understand the potential risks of vaping. Smokers and vapers are similarly exposed to nicotine and other chemicals, even though there are many differences between the two – tar-laden smoke differs from liquid droplets.

It is more common for smokers to have dental problems than non-smokers or ex-smokers. Current smokers, for instance, are over twice as likely to have three or more oral health problems as people who have never smoked.

Several factors contribute to poor oral health caused by smoking, from yellow-brown stains to bad breath to gum disease (technically called periodontal disease) and oral cancer. The tartar that smokers accumulate is also more than non-smokers’.

Smoking has other consequences for your teeth as well. Smoking can hinder the ability of your mouth to heal itself and impact your immune system in such a way as to exacerbate other health issues caused by smoking.

Smoking and Gum Disease

A smoker’s chances of getting gum disease are about two to one compared with other non-smokers. A gum infection and bone infection around the teeth cause the tissue and bone to breakdown over time, which may result in tooth loss.

Plaque is an accumulation of saliva and bacteria in the mouth that leads to gingivitis. Plaque effects your teeth directly, causing tooth decay in addition to causing gum irritation and inflammation.

Foods with a lot of sugar or starch are processed by bacteria for energy. As a result, acid is produced. This acid eventually damages the surface of your teeth if you don’t keep them clean. There are also several bacteria found in plaque that directly irritate your gums.

As a result, even though gum disease is a more relevant result of plaque buildup, smokers are more likely to suffer from both of those consequences. Smoking can make it more difficult for your body to fight off gum infections caused by plaque build-up. Further, smoking also interferes with wound healing when damage is done by plaque buildup.

The gums and teeth can slowly become separated over time if you do not treat gum disease. With more tissue breakdown, this condition gets worse, and eventually can lead to loose or falling out teeth.

The risks of periodontal disease are twice as great for smokers as they are for non-smokers, and the risks increase as one smokes more and smokes for a longer period of time. Additionally, the problem is unlikely to respond well to treatment.

Cell Studies on the Effects of Vaping on Teeth

Several studies have specifically explored the effect of vaping on the teeth. The majority of these studies have used cell culture models. While these are referred to as “in vitro” (literally “in glass”) studies, they provide useful insight into the biological mechanisms that may contribute to certain health effects. But, this type of evidence is limited. It doesn’t mean that something will work the same way in a real human body just because it does in a culture.

A review from March 2017 summarizes the research on vaping and your teeth. Researchers reported that e-liquids have harmful effects on ligaments and connective tissue in gums based on cell culture studies. Atomizer vapour contains aldehydes that can damage DNA and proteins. Vapers could develop periodontal disease from all of these effects.

As well as being harmful to the teeth, nicotine is also known to cause heart problems. However, this is based on cell studies and evidence from tobacco smokers. In their opinion, vaping could negatively impact healing.

In reality, there is very little concrete evidence regarding vaping at the moment, so much of what we’ve talked about above is merely speculation. Currently, we do not have complete proof about how nicotine interacts with cells in your mouth, so we can’t completely ignore this speculation, but we can’t know what will happen to real-world vapers based on what we have observed so far.

A Study on Real Vapers and Their Teeth

Generally, positive results were found in one study that focused on the oral health of real-world vapers. Smokers who switched to vaping were enrolled in the study, and their oral health was assessed at the beginning, 60 days after the switch, and 120 days after it. Group 1 included vapers who had smoked for more than ten years, while group 2 included vapers who had smoked for less than ten years.

The plaque index score of group 1 was 1, with only 15 participants having no plaque at all at the start of the study. The participants in group 2 did not receive a 0 on the plaque, with about three-quarters of the participants scoring 2 out of 3 and the rest scoring between 1 and 3. Ninety-two percent of smokers in group 1 and 87 percent of smokers in group 2 had plaque scores of 0 at the end of the study.

How Can Vapers Look After Their Teeth?

It’s not certain that vaping poses a risk for dental problems, but there are steps you can take to lower your risk.

Stay Hydrated

Vapers should hydrate since it’s especially important for their teeth. No matter what you do, make sure you drink plenty of water to combat dry mouth. Also, make sure you buy a high-quality vaporizer from a head shop online, such as ShopRite. It will minimize the risks of dental problems for you.

Vape Less Frequently With Higher-nicotine Juice. 

The idea is that vaping less often with higher-nicotine salt nic juices might be healthier than more frequently with lower-nicotine juices. The same is true for your teeth – since PG and VG cause dehydration, the less you inhale, the easier it is to avoid it. Even though increasing your nicotine consumption wouldn’t be ideal, if the theories about nicotine and gum disease are true, it doesn’t appear that nicotine plays a key role. You can get higher-nicotine salt nic juices from a reliable vape shop online easily.

Keep brushing

Most of us have not experienced any problems with vaping, although some may. In general, vapers take good care of their teeth. Keep your eyes peeled for any potential issues by brushing at least twice a day. Make an appointment with your dentist if you notice anything amiss.

Final Thoughts

However, there are still possible issues due to dehydration and even nicotine that you may face when vaping. However, you should take a step back before taking drastic measures, especially if the evidence is scanty.

Changing from high-risk nicotine use to a low-risk form is unlikely to result from your teeth. Aside from your lungs, you also have your heart to worry about. Research has focused mainly on these risks so far. It won’t change the fact that vaping is a better idea than smoking, even if it ends up having some effects on your teeth or gums. For more information, contact us, and we will gladly help you out.