Cigarettes, Vapes and Marijuana, Oh My: The Oral Health Risks of Smoking Copy

The good news? Tobacco use has reached an historic low. The bad news? Vaping (using electronic cigarettes filled with juice or nicotine salt) and marijuana use are climbing. Vaping may.

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Sep 23 1134

The good news? Tobacco use has reached an historic low. The bad news? Vaping (using electronic cigarettes filled with juice or nicotine salt) and marijuana use are climbing. Vaping may not be as harmful as cigarettes, Johns Hopkins’ Dr. Michael Blaha noted, “but it’s still not safe.” Cannabis, meanwhile, has proven to yield a host of therapeutic and medical benefits, particularly among patients with cancer, AIDS, cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, or other neurodegenerative diseases. Health officials like the FDA have approved cannabis for medical use. Harvard researchers prefer CBD and medical marijuana as safer options than opiates.  But weed, too, is not without its unknowns and risks. The reality is that any form of smoking presents big challenges in maintaining proper oral health.

Peering Through the Smoke Screen

Cigarettes and Tobacco

“Current smoking has declined from 20.9% (nearly 21 of every 100 adults) in 2005 to 12.5% (nearly 13 of every 100 adults) in 2020,” according to the most current data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That represents a “decline of approximately two-thirds in the more than 50 years since the first Surgeon General’s report warned of the health consequences of smoking.”

Cigarette smoking has a storied and lurid history of health-related pitfalls. There really are no positive health effects to be gained by tobacco use. If anything, smoking amounts to little more than elevated health risks, as CDC estimates demonstrate:

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