Vaping's effect on teeth/gums - redux!

[Shadzi]

I searched, read, searched again, and read that. And then I attacked a few medical journal searches through my university ebesco hosts.

I promise, double pinky swear!

But, I've got a very deep seated anxiety about my dental health - very deep seated. Good solid teeth - but bad gums. Yeah, it's probably a side effect of 17 years of smoking. But... I dunno. I love my vape. I'm just worried about what it could be doing to my mouth. I don't think I have a problem with dry mouth. My lips aren't sticking to my teeth, and my tongue isn't sticking to the roof of my mouth. Plenty enough saliva, keeping hydrated, no alcohol-containing mouthwash. I'm still really bugged, though, by the idea that something in this could predispose to cavities or receding gums.

Lay it on me, folks. For those of you who have been vaping for long periods of time... how's it going with your gums and stuff? Are any of you noticing receding, or anything else that can be attributed to vaping? How's your teeth? I need a little reassurance, I guess, before I start flying off into a string of panic attacks and end up on Xanax by the weekend.

Thanks,
Shadzi

 

[FieryOne]

I searched, read, searched again, and read that. And then I attacked a few medical journal searches through my university ebesco hosts.

I promise, double pinky swear!

But, I've got a very deep seated anxiety about my dental health - very deep seated. Good solid teeth - but bad gums. Yeah, it's probably a side effect of 17 years of smoking. But... I dunno. I love my vape. I'm just worried about what it could be doing to my mouth. I don't think I have a problem with dry mouth. My lips aren't sticking to my teeth, and my tongue isn't sticking to the roof of my mouth. Plenty enough saliva, keeping hydrated, no alcohol-containing mouthwash. I'm still really bugged, though, by the idea that something in this could predispose to cavities or receding gums.

Lay it on me, folks. For those of you who have been vaping for long periods of time... how's it going with your gums and stuff? Are any of you noticing receding, or anything else that can be attributed to vaping? How's your teeth? I need a little reassurance, I guess, before I start flying off into a string of panic attacks and end up on Xanax by the weekend.

Thanks,
Shadzi

I don't think you have more to worry about than drinking soda. Brush your teeth regularly and you should be fine. I'm no dentist and have only been vaping a month, but my mouth, teeth and gums look better than they did when I started.

 

[classwife]

As long as you are brushing and flossing regularly and drinking plenty of water you are fine. ( Oral tissue can be dry without "sticking". )
Best recommendation...always go to sleep with a brushed and flossed mouth...nice and clean...you don't salivate as much when asleep and the bodys "self cleaning" is basically turned off.

 

[CES]

I've been vaping for almost a year. I've gone for regular dental checkups twice in that time. No cavities and no problems. My dentist is thrilled. He said my gums are looking nice and healthy. He asked me for e-cig info both visits so that he could tell other patients about vaping.

 

[DaveP]

Do a search for "gums" and "dentist" on the main page (right side search box). You'll find multiple accounts of glowing dental reports from vapers. My dental hygienist said that she couldn't tell I was a smoker and she emphasized that she ALWAYS could tell because smoker's gums have a certain grayish pink tint, especially where they meet the teeth. She asks people if they smoke when she sees that and she said she is always right. I confounded her when I told her I had only been vaping two months at the time. She was shocked! It came up when she mentioned how bad smoking was for capillaries and I told her about vaping. She is going to inform her smoking family members about vaping.

 

[texastumbleweed]

i am a health care professional. all i can say is that my gums are much healthier since i quit smoking and started vaping 3 months ago. i have no worries. of course, nicotine is a vasoconstrictor no matter what form you have it delivered in, but the beauty of vaping is that you can taper down your nic strength to zero...if desired.

 

[Liv2Ski]

great question from the op and thanks for the responses. I was worried about the same issue!

 

[ACM]

The more info we can publish on vaping and dental health the better. I have been worried about the ingredients in e-juice possibly containing substances that promote tooth decay, but have yet to read anything substantial on the issue. One thread mentioned the possible use of sugar in e-juice (to account for the sweet taste of some juices), but sweetness is a characteristic of PG, and I can't find any reference to sugar in any of the juices I've used from places like JC and Vermont Vapor. But could some of the other additives for flavoring potentially cause tooth decay?

To be safe, I never vape after I brush my teeth before bed. But I sort of suspect I am being overly cautious.

Certainly, since I stopped smoking altogether, I have seen a real improvement in how white my teeth are now, and that's a good thing!

 

[ThankU4Vaping]

I searched, read, searched again, and read that. And then I attacked a few medical journal searches through my university ebesco hosts.

I promise, double pinky swear!

But, I've got a very deep seated anxiety about my dental health - very deep seated. Good solid teeth - but bad gums. Yeah, it's probably a side effect of 17 years of smoking. But... I dunno. I love my vape. I'm just worried about what it could be doing to my mouth. I don't think I have a problem with dry mouth. My lips aren't sticking to my teeth, and my tongue isn't sticking to the roof of my mouth. Plenty enough saliva, keeping hydrated, no alcohol-containing mouthwash. I'm still really bugged, though, by the idea that something in this could predispose to cavities or receding gums.

Lay it on me, folks. For those of you who have been vaping for long periods of time... how's it going with your gums and stuff? Are any of you noticing receding, or anything else that can be attributed to vaping? How's your teeth? I need a little reassurance, I guess, before I start flying off into a string of panic attacks and end up on Xanax by the weekend.

Thanks,
Shadzi

I have bad gums (periodontal disease) too! I've had the gum-flap surgery twice and the deep root planing and scaling, many times. Aside from 35 years of analogs, I love my coffee and my coca-cola too, which does not help my stained teeth. I was still smoking in early April when I saw the dentist, but I started vaping in late April and in July I saw my periodontist who already noticed "less staining". Then he measured my gum pockets (mine went as high as 8 last time), and my highest number was 6! That is a great improvement - my gums are healing and getting healthier. The periodontist was impressed and I gave him a bunch of V4L business cards to give out.
Just yesterday I went back to the dentist (I alternate the dentist and the perio guy every 3 months) and my mouth is in very good shape! I vaped in the chair after my cleaning, talked about vaping, and gave some V4L cards to my dentist. This dentist has been asking me to quit smoking for 15 years, and he was so happy I finally did. He really got a kick out of seeing me vape. I used my automatic chrome battery with the green LED and he kept saying "do it again, do it again" and called out to the hygienist to come and see. He thought the e-cig was very cool!

 

[BadThad]

I had the gum surgery about 4 years ago and it helped my problem with "deep pockets". I just visited my dentist about 2 months ago and she was trying to get me to repeat the gum surgery.....NO WAY I told her. It's a horrible experience! On my next visit I will have her recheck my gums and pocket depth and I'll report back here. I'm really expecting an improvment like Thanku4vaping. I'm really over the top with my oral care but it was a battle due to all the smoking. I'm continuing to be diligent with brushing (3x day), flossing, stim-u-dents and mouthwash. My guess is that my dentist is going to be thrilled on my next visit when she sees my gums.....my teeth are perfect, never a problem....it's the gums that have given me problems....but I attribute it all to smoking.

 

[Slea]

1.5 years of vaping here, and my dentist has been thrilled with the condition of my gums and teeth.

Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk

 

[glowgirl]

I have been vaping for 9 months now and had a dental check up last month, with excellent gum health and no cavities! Of course I brush twice a day and drink a lot of water. So far so good. I do vape only VG now though as PG did make my mouth dry.

 

[Bluesmom]

Thanks to everyone posting on this subject. I have been really paranoid about dental issues and vaping, funny how I didn't worry about it when I was smoking.
I have spent a fortune on my pearly whites and would appreciate it if they stayed in good condition.
My concern arose when I started having gum issues, like swollen gums with bleeding since vaping. I have never had this problem before and wont see my dentist for a couple of months, unless the swelling continues This discussion has deminished my fear of vaping and dental issues greatly.

 

[Tiari]

The more info we can publish on vaping and dental health the better. I have been worried about the ingredients in e-juice possibly containing substances that promote tooth decay, but have yet to read anything substantial on the issue. One thread mentioned the possible use of sugar in e-juice (to account for the sweet taste of some juices), but sweetness is a characteristic of PG, and I can't find any reference to sugar in any of the juices I've used from places like JC and Vermont Vapor. But could some of the other additives for flavoring potentially cause tooth decay?

To be safe, I never vape after I brush my teeth before bed. But I sort of suspect I am being overly cautious.

Certainly, since I stopped smoking altogether, I have seen a real improvement in how white my teeth are now, and that's a good thing!

I can help you with this query! The sweet taste in juices is attributed to three qualities, PG and VG all have a sweet taste to them. They do have a sweetening affect, however the super sweet juices use only artificial sweeteners like Xylitol or Stevia or Splenda derivatives. I do not know if the sugar content of glycerine causes tooth decay, but I am sure you could probably look that up on the internet. The other artificial sweeteners added, certainly do not cause tooth decay.

 

[ShannonS]

I've been doing lots of studying on the subject lately. Smoking changes the pH of your mouth which creates huge problems. Quitting smoking changes it again, which can cause some mouth issues when you quit. I'm researching the effects of vaping on the pH of the mouth as well.

If you have sore gums when quitting smoking, a baking soda toothpaste or mouth rinse or even rinsing with a bit of baking soda and water can clear it up rather quickly.

 

[Phreaker]

Since this was bumped I'd like to add my experience:

After about a week of vaping my teeth ached a bit. Not a tooth ache, but if you've bleached your teeth and are sensitive to it, you'll know what I am referring to. I rarely bleach them now as it really bothers my teeth. The ache I was feeling was mainly on the inside of my front/bottom teeth.

I searched the web and only found one post on another forum from a new vaper that was having the same issue. She said she had switched to Colgate Total and wondered if it might be the cause. I've been using that toothpaste for years! In a later post she said she went back to her old toothpaste and it went away. So, I bought some Sensodyne and I've been using it for a week. My teeth no longer ache. I have a dentist appointment next month and I'll mention it to her. She's been on me to quit, typical Dr. She even prescribed me Chantix, which I tried (that's a whole other story).

What's strange is if you read up on teeth bleaching sensitivity it says it's the glycerin in the tooth bleaching gel that bothers some people even though it's harmless.

 

[Vagablonde]

I myself dont have this issue,,but my housemate who tried vaping said it made her gums peel.

 

[Turtleinfl]

I've been vaping for 4 to 6 months and im having problems with my gums swelling making my teeth ache don't know if vaping is the cause or bad batch of juice it only recently started since I moved to 6 volt vaping im gonna switch things up and see what happens

 

[Brad.]

Dental Health and vaping The #1 cause of implant failure is Nicotine . Nicotine causes a reduction in oxygen flow to the bone. It does not matter if the nicotine is supplied by inhaling nicotine , smoking tobacco, chewing on tobacco, or chewing gum. The dental implants require oxygen to bond to the bone. When the bone is unable to bond to the implant due to lack of oxygen, discomfort usually results and the implants must be removed.

Studies have shown that even nicotine by itself may do harm to the mouth, gums and tongue. A report published in the Journal of the Indian Society of Periodontology has stated that nicotine may contribute significantly to the development of gingivitis and periodontitis, two gum diseases that can cause breath to smell foul.

Likewise, nicotine may increase the risk of tooth loss and dental decay, which also lead to bad breath. The study suggests that nicotine causes these conditions because it is a vasoconstrictor, meaning it reduces blood flow to tissues in your mouth.

Without proper blood flow in the gums, white blood cells cannot properly fight off bacterial infections and red blood cells bring less oxygen to replenish the gum cells themselves.

Not only can these gum conditions leave your breath smelling less than fresh, but the microorganisms that cause them may have a hand in halitosis, too. The mouth is filled with over 600 varieties of bacteria, according to a 2003 issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. Many of these tend to flourish in a drier environment, and are called anaerobic bacteria.

When the mouth is dry, these germs can feed on dead cells and food particles emit volatile sulfur compounds (VSC), which can be very smelly. One of the most common VSCs, hydrogen sulfide, smells like rotten eggs.

As a vasoconstrictor, nicotine may contribute to dry mouth by reducing blood flow to the salivary glands. Without saliva, which naturally eliminates some oral bacteria, halitosis can quickly become a problem.

Nicotine and periodontal tissues

 

[Luvs5rugrats]

This month marks one year for me smoke free and I just had a dentist appointment last week. My mouth is in great shape. I had gingivitis before when I smoked and no matter how much I brushed, flossed, rinsed with listerine, it never went away. It is completely gone today and my dentist was very happy with the way my gums have improved. My teeth are much whiter today, as well.