Can You Get Gum Disease From Chewing Tobacco?

Chewing-tobacco and snuff are both considered smokeless tobacco.  Chewing tobacco is packaged in a pouch or a brick and is placed between the cheek and gum.  It is kept in the mouth for many hours to get the high from the nicotine.  Snuff, on the other hand, is in powdered form and is sold in cans.  A pinch is all that is needed to get the quick high from getting absorbed into the bloodstream.

Plaque is the main cause of gum disease

However, there are other factors can affect the health of your gums. Anything that effects the tissue that surrounds and supports the teeth is considered gum disease.  This includes gingivitis and periodontitis.  Smokeless tobacco can definitely do a number on the health of your gums and it is an increasing problem among adults.  It may not cause gingivitis which is red and swollen gums, but it definitely can cause periodontitis, which is the gums pulling away from the teeth.

Placing anything in the mouth and having continuous contact with the gums may cause the gums to recede and exposing the more of your teeth.

 

The problem is smokeless tobacco contains a lot of sugar which forms an acid that may eat away the tooth enamel, causing cavities and mouth sores, notes the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.   JADA, the Journal of the American Dental Association adds, chewing tobacco may be a risk factor in the development of root-surface caries and, to a lesser extent, coronal caries. This may be due to high sugar content and increased gingival recession.

There are other diseases associated with smokeless tobacco

 

Using smokeless tobacco may also cause heart disease, gum disease, and oral lesions other than cancer, such as leukoplakia (precancerous white patches in the mouth), according to the National Cancer Institute.

It seems you had better stop smoking and what better way to stop than by nicotine lozenges or nicotine gum.

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