20. CAN VAPING DAMAGE YOUR TEETH?
2020-01-09
If you’re wondering “can vaping damage your teeth?” you first need to know what smoking can do for your pearly whites.
Terrible teeth — stained yellow and with horrible brown splodges on them — are just one of the many side-effects of smoking cigarettes. Apart from the real health concerns associated with smoking, tobacco is bad for overall hygiene, including oral health, and can quickly lead to blemished teeth and breath that’s anything but fresh.
Are those who manage to give up smoking by switching to e-cigarettes instead similarly affected and can vaping damage your teeth? Many people who are now vapers naturally have this concern, because vaping, after all, is still a relatively new activity — one that’s really only taken off in the last few years. We’re still finding out many things about vaping, but what we know so far is that it’s close to 100% better for you than lighting up even one cigarette.
Vaping has become so popular in recent times that currently around 9 million Americans regularly vape. Many of these will be former smokers who managed to kick the habit by vaping instead; they get the nicotine they desire, but not the many harmful chemicals given off by burning tobacco. They’re keen to improve their health, and that includes their oral health and what their teeth look like. Taking care of your teeth and then having them rendered yellow and brown will ruin any smile.
Smoking and Bad Teeth
Mostly, it’s the tar and nicotine in tobacco that’s responsible for staining smokers’ teeth. In an attempt to return their pearly whites to the pristine state they were in before they started smoking, many smokers resort to whitening toothpastes and may even have their teeth professionally cleaned and whitened at the dentist.
All of it comes to nothing, however, as they continue to smoke and the tar and nicotine they inhale first hit the barrier of their teeth and begin to build up there again. It’s a losing battle and, unfortunately, the effects are not just cosmetic, but can lead to gum disease and tooth loss, mouth cancer, or worse. There’s really nothing positive to say about smoking anymore — it kills 7 million people around the world every year.
So smoking, as we now know, doesn’t just take an enormous toll on people’s health and image, but it’s costly all round. Visits to the dentist are not cheap, and smokers generally need a lot more of them as they try to maintain their oral health. Quite apart from all this, imagine going on a date and ending up kissing a smoker. It really is like kissing an ashtray, and who wants that?! A total turn-off, and the budding relationship will likely be quickly stubbed out!
So, Can Vaping Damage Your Teeth?
If you’re familiar with vaping, you’ll know that the e-liquid that vape gear contains may have nicotine in it, and it can also have none — just a fruity or other flavor. Importantly, it will not have tar in the e-liquid refills, so that’s one concern already out of the way, along with the fact that you’re not inhaling up to 70 carcinogenic substances found in cigarette smoke.
What you can do with your e-cigs or other type of vape gear is gradually cut down on the amount of nicotine in your e-juice. You can’t possibly do this with tobacco products like cigarettes or cigars. E-juice comes in different levels of nicotine, and you can reduce the amount in subsequent refills you buy, until you’re down to nothing and just enjoying great flavors. This will almost entirely wipe out the threat to your teeth, in terms of discoloring and damaging them.
But if you’re still after your nicotine hit with vaping, at least try and get to a low-nicotine level, to protect your teeth, as well as drinking plenty of water and making sure you brush well — at least twice a day and after every meal if you can. Then, you’ll likely have a winning smile all the time.
