Vaping is it a safe alternative?

• May 17, 2021
• Dr. Catherine-Anne Walsh

Happy May Everyone!!

I hope you are all finding some level of normal in 2021. Here in the practice, we have decided to up our “normal” with a return to one of our favourite patient conversations: Tobacco use!

Our favourite patient conversations: Tobacco use!

Riveting, I know!

We have been having reports from some of our patients that the 2020 WFH has thrown all the usual good habits (yoga, vegetables) out the window in favour of some less healthy options (back to smoking, no gym, too much wine….).

Personally, I have found that I have a penchant for potato chips—the whole bag thankyouverymuch! Cake, chocolate, toasted buttered croissants, the list of my dietary sins is seemingly exponential. I did help keep the local cafes in the black, so my tighter-than-normal work uniform will just have to cope. And before I digress back into the realm of dark chocolate, let us chat about Tobacco Cessation!

I know you know—cigarettes are bad for you. I know you know why—carcinogens, cardiovascular disease, periodontal disease and tooth loss or decay.¹ We all know this is not new news, either.

What we are getting asked about again is vaping. This is a tricky one—partly due to the lack of evidence on and around vaping. The President of the American Dental Association has said, “Vaping is not a safe alternative to cigarettes or other tobacco products.”² Which I feel sums it all up.

Health Canada has a comprehensive website with all sorts of information about Vaping in depth³, but the quick version is: don’t vape. If you already smoke it can be used to help reduce cigarette consumption but, “youth and non-smokers should not vape.”⁴

Vape use can also “increase the risk of seizure, tachycardia, disorientation, airway resistance, congestive heart failure, pneumonia, and [cause] second-degree burns from faulty devices.”¹ All of that sounds like a no-fun way to spend any of your time.

So, if your vaping aligns with the Health Canada⁴ strategy of using it as a transition because you have already stopped smoking cigarettes, then we are delighted with your progress. Keep up the good quitting. If there’s anything else going on, come in and see us for a chat. For more information, go to your dentist. and they will give you tips. about taking care of your teeth.

References:

• https://www.dentalhealthalberta.ca/prevention-conditions/smoking-and-vaping/ Cited May 11, 2021.
• https://www.ada.org/en/about/press-releases/2019-archives/american-dental-association-statement-on-vaping
• https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada.html Cited May 11, 2021.
• https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/campaigns/vaping.html Cited May 11, 2021.