Vaping and oral health
We have seen this playbook before – an industry intent on putting profits before health, skating at the edges of regulation and pushing ethical boundaries. The Australian Government has just finalised a public consultation process, and it is imperative that they listen to the health experts in formulating their response to this burgeoning health problem.
I won’t go into the harmful overall health impacts, which are much better covered by others. But I think that it’s important to add the oral health impacts into the mix of this discussion.
A recent study in the Journal of the American Dental Association found that people who used e-cigarettes were at higher risk of tooth decay than those who didn’t vape, with several likely explanations for the link. E-cigarettes are known to lead to dry mouth, affecting the amount and quality of saliva that we produce. Saliva plays an important protective function in the oral cavity, and people with compromised saliva are at greater risk of tooth decay. Furthermore, vaping solutions tend to be highly sweetened, to make them more attractive to younger users, and these sugars are also a risk for tooth decay. And there is some research that suggests that vaping can influence the bad bacteria in the mouth to become more ‘sticky’ on the teeth, further increasing the risk of tooth decay.
Given that around 40% of Australian children have tooth decay by the age of 12-14 years, the explosion in e-cigarette use in young people may have devasting oral health consequences if left unregulated.
This recent research builds on the evidence of other potential impacts of e-cigarettes on oral health, which is not surprising given they contain up to 200 different toxic chemicals which are known to have serious health effects. Some researchers have shown links between e-cigarettes and gum disease, and the jury is still out on whether there are possible links to oral cancers.
We know what needs to be done, because we have seen this play out before. The Government must ensure that there is stronger regulation and adequate protections particularly for younger people. This means clamping down on marketing and promotion, and ensuring that this happens in the digital and social media space, and stopping the easy supply of these products.
If we don’t act now, we will be paying for the consequences well into the future.
Zero-risk-distortions are more harmful than vaping. In fact, it's the kind of rhetoric anti-vaxxers employ.
When used for the intended purpose (notwithstanding the shallow conspiracy theory), NVPs replace lethal combustibles. And do they outperform vintage quitting options.
To say the risk remnants and trace amounts of carcinogens outweigh the health improvement for ending a smoking career is nothing short of a hippocratic oath violation.
The predictable illicit market in Australia is more indicative of intent, btw. The deflection desperation more than palpable.