Vaping could be good for oral hygiene

In the past few months, a growing number of scientific studies have shown the benefits of e-cigarettes in relation to tobacco.

The majority of these studies provide evidence of a significant reduction in cancer risk. One of these recently published studies highlighted the benefits of the replacing tobacco with e-cigarettes and oral hygiene.

While tobacco turns teeth yellow and provokes gingivitis, is it possible that e-cigarettes are actually good for oral hygiene? An Italian team led by Doctor Marco Tatullo sought out to answer this question. For 120 days, the researchers studied smokers who were weening themselves off of tobacco with the help of the e-cigarette. In total, 110 people participated in the study. Some participants had been smoking for less than 10 years (Group 1), and others had been smoking for more than ten years (Group 2).

Participants were asked to come in at various intervals during the study: on Day 1, 60 days later, and at the end of the program. Researchers measured the levels of dental plaque, the frequency of bloody gums, and the participants’ overall oral hygiene.

Oral hygiene improvement with the help of the e-cigarette

From the beginning of the study, the harmful effects of smoking on oral hygiene were clear. Not surprisingly, participants in Group 2 had more plaque and more frequent bloody gums than those in Group 1.

In both groups, replacing tobacco with e-cigarettes significantly improved oral hygiene. For example, 73% of participants in Group 2 had a dental plaque score of 2/3 at the beginning of the study. By the end of the study, 87% had a score of 0/3. In addition, while 60% of smokers had bloody gums at the beginning of the study, over 90% had healthy gums at the end of the study.

Finally, 71% of participants saw a noticeable improvement in overall oral hygiene at the study’s conclusion. 80% also found that they had better breath and could taste more by the end of the study.