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Potential Effects of E-cigarette Aerosols on Oral Tissue

8/20/2016

Article from CDA Oasis Discussions

Dr. Diana Messadi spoke with Dr. John O’Keefe about an article she published with her colleagues recently in PLOS One. The article is titled: Characterization of Electronic Cigarette Aerosol and Its Induction of Oxidative Stress Response in Oral Keratinocytes

Read the article here (PDF)

Dr. Diana Messadi is Chair of the Section of Oral Medicine & Orofacial Pain and Associate Dean for Education and Faculty Development at the UCLA School of Dentistry.

Highlights
Dr. Messadi and her colleague recently published an article which studied the in vitro effect of e-cigarettes on oral tissues. Some of the key findings are noted below.

Vapour and liquid byproducts of the e-cigarettes, when introduced to tissue cultures, led to a substantial reduction of the enzyme glutathione involved in redox balance reactions
This reduction induces oxidative stress and a marker for cytotoxicity and carcinogenicity
This, also, increases inflammation in lung disease and has implications for periodontal disease and oral cancer

Now, in vivo effects must be researched but, given the introduction of e-cigarettes only a few years back, there is still limited information available about the clinical effects of e-cigarettes and vaping. A small study carried out at UCLA revealed that dental students feel that they are lacking credible information about vaping and e-cigarettes. As such, it is difficult for practitioners to advise our patients accordingly on the safety of e-cigarettes and their effects on the oral cavity and overall health.

Main Messages

Adolescents are among the highest percentage of first-time users of tobacco products via e-cigarettes. Therefore, it is important to discourage them from starting to use these products as it can be a gateway to using other tobacco products or even, future substance abuse.

Nowadays, adults are using e-cigarettes as a tobacco cessation method. However, this is not an approved form of tobacco cessation. As a practitioner, we should advise them to use them only for a pre-defined period of time.

Patients should be advised that e-cigarette vapour contains the same chemical carcinogens including formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, lead, hydrocarbons which are found in traditional cigarettes and tobacco products.

Your Child's First Visit

8/20/2016

Article from Canadian Dental Association

The Canadian Dental Association recommends the assessment of infants, by a dentist, within 6 months of the eruption of the first tooth or by one year of age. The goal is to have your child visit the dentist before there is a problem with his or her teeth. In most cases, a dental exam every six months will let your child's dentist catch small problems early.

Here are 3 reasons to take your child for dental exams:

You can find out if the cleaning you do at home is working.
Your dentist can find problems right away and fix them.
Your child can learn that going to the dentist helps prevent problems.

Your dentist may want to take X-rays. X-rays show decay between the teeth. They will also show if teeth are coming in the way they should. Your child's dentist may also talk to you about fluoride.

Once your child has permanent molars, your dentist may suggest sealing them to protect them from cavities. A sealant is a kind of plastic that is put on the chewing surface of the molars. The plastic seals the tooth and makes it less likely to trap food and germs.

When your child goes for a dental exam, your dentist can tell you if crooked or crowded teeth may cause problems. In many cases, crooked teeth straighten out as the child's jaw grows and the rest of the teeth come in.

If they do not straighten out, your child may have a bite problem (also known as malocclusion). This can cause problems with eating and with teeth cleaning. It can also affect your child's looks and make him or her feel out of place.

Your dentist can suggest ways to treat this, or refer your child to an orthodontist. An orthodontist is a dental specialist with 2 to 3 years of extra university training in this area.

The dentist says my child needs a filling in a baby tooth. Since the tooth is going to fall out, why bother?

Some primary (or baby) teeth will be in your child's mouth until age 12. The tooth that needs to be fixed may be one of those.

Broken teeth or teeth that are infected can hurt your child's health and the way your child feels about him or herself.

To do a filling, the dentist removes the decay and "fills" the hole with metal, plastic or other material. A filling can be a cheap and easy way to fix a problem that could be painful and cost more later because it stops decay from spreading deeper into the tooth.

If a filling is not done and decay spreads, the tooth may need to be pulled out. If this happens, your child may need a space maintainer to hold space for the permanent tooth. When a baby (or primary) tooth is missing, the teeth on each side may move into the space.

They can block the permanent tooth from coming in. To hold the space, your dentist may put a plastic or metal space maintainer on the teeth on each side of the space, to keep the teeth from moving in.

Potential Effects of E-cigarette Aerosols on Oral Tissue

Your Child's First Visit

Dr Jack Bottner

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