According to research findings published by a group of scientists under the auspices of the British American Tobacco (BAT), where a comparison of two sets of teeth were made in two weeks, one set was exposed to cigarette smoke and the other to vaping smoke. It was observed that unlike in the case of smoking, vaping does not stain teeth.
During the course of this study which was presented at the annual conference of the American Association for Dental Research annual, the team of investigators used a BAT’s HnB device Glo and an e-cigarette prototype. Cow‘s teeth in human saliva which was incubated in an oven at body temperature were tested using these devices, the idea was to simulate the natural ambiance of the mouth to a very large extent.
The two sets of teeth, after exposure to the two condition of cigarette smoke and vaping smoke from an e-cigarette was observed for discoloration after two weeks. From the observations, discoloration of the teeth exposed to cigarette smoke was quite clear, occurring almost immediately while no trace was seen on teeth exposed to vaping smoke. The quick discoloration could be linked to cigarette’s tar concentration.
An excerpt of the BAT research reports reveals “a change in the color of the set of teeth which were exposed to cigarette smoke after the first 24 hours of study, as the days progressed the teeth became progressively dark in color and the discoloration become even more evident”. Without the aid of an optical device, the change in color of the set of teeth exposed to cigarette smoke is quite obvious within a day. This is in great contrast to the teeth exposed to THP vapor or e-cigarette which had a slight color change similar to untreated teeth.
The Effect of Vaping on Oral Health
In agreement with the above, there was a study published last October looking into the oral state of real-world vapers who had just moved over from smoking to this safer alternative. The study indicated that the shift has a great positive impact on their oral health. The unit of Periodontology was where the clinical study was carried out as well as in Oral Hygiene of Calabrodental Clinic located in Crotone in Italy. The report was then in 2016 published on NCBI.
The study had 110 participants who were individuals who just quitted smoking and embraced vaping, their oral health was examined at the onset of the study, after 3 months of the study and also 120 days after the onset of the study. Furthermore, these new vapers were split into two groups: the first group had those who have smoked for less than 10 years while those in the second group had those who had smoked more than 10 years. At the onset of the study, when their plaque index was investigated, it was observed that 85% of the first group had a plaque index score of 1 out of 3, while the remaining 15% had no trace of plaque. In the same vein, 75% of the second group had a plaque index of 2, while all of them had plaque. However at the end of the study, 92% and 87% of the first and second group respectively, all had zero plaque scores.
Also, during the study, the individuals were examined for bleeding after their gums were poked using a probe. At the onset of the study, 61% of the individuals in the first group and 65% of the individuals in the second group bleed when a probe was used their gums. When their gums were examined again at the end of the study, 92% and 98% of individuals in the first and second group respectively did not bleed when their gums were probed.
Switching from Smoking to Vaping Improves Oral Health