The electronic cigarette, colloquially known as the “vape,” has been in our lives for some time. With its advent came a surge of health-related inquiries and concerns, stirring up a whirlwind of conflicting information.
One such contested claim is the potential tooth damage caused by vaping. However, Newcastle University dentistry experts say otherwise, citing a lack of long-term evidence linking vaping to oral health issues in the UK.
They join the ranks of Public Health England and Cancer Research UK, both of which advocate that e-cigarettes are at least 95% less harmful than traditional tobacco cigarettes.
The E-Cigarette: A Smoker’s Alternative
E-cigarettes offer users a smoking-like experience, delivering nicotine to the body through an almost identical process. The battery-powered device heats a liquid mixture known as e-liquid, creating an aerosol that users inhale.
The e-cigarette universe is diverse, featuring various models to cater to different user preferences. For instance, Cigalike e-cigarettes, designed to mimic the look and feel of traditional cigarettes, make for an easy transition for smokers.
More advanced options like vape pens, refillable pod vapes, and vape mods offer a more powerful experience, requiring users to refill the tank and maintain consumable parts themselves.
The E-Liquid: What’s Inside?
E-liquids contain four primary ingredients: propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, nicotine, and flavorings. This composition eliminates over 4000 harmful chemicals found in tobacco plants, significantly reducing the harm associated with smoking.
E-liquid ingredient regulations are robust in the UK and Europe, ensuring consumer safety. However, this isn’t the case worldwide, leading to misinformation about vaping’s effects, often sparked by illicit substances like tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, being added to the mix.
The Cardiff University study claims that vaping causes tooth damage and mentions diacetyl, a harmful flavoring banned from e-cigarettes in the UK and Europe, known to cause ‘popcorn lung.’
The Vaping Verdict: The Controversial Study
The Cardiff Metropolitan University study raised eyebrows by associating e-cigarettes with cancer. However, this claim contradicts the fact that e-cigarettes eliminate many harmful tobacco chemicals, over 50 known to cause cancer. Moreover, they also sidestep carbon monoxide and tar formation, linked to impaired lung function and by-products of the combustion process not present in e-cigarettes.
The study also suggested that nicotine causes a high risk of oral health issues and whole-body health complications. But wouldn’t nicotine replacement therapy products, use safely for over 30 years, also pose a significant risk if this were the case?
Experts Weigh In Vaping and Oral Health
Newcastle University experts disagreed with the Cardiff study, pointing out several basic errors and misrepresentations. They debunked the link between e-cigarettes and cancer and highlighted the misuse of diacetyl in the study, an ingredient not found in regulated UK and Europe e-liquids.
Public Health England and Cancer Research UK remain consistent in their stance, maintaining that e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful than tobacco cigarettes, by at least 95% and 97%, respectively.
Clearing the Vape Fog
The debate around vaping and health continues to simmer. While it’s essential to scrutinize vaping’s risks thoroughly, it’s equally crucial to avoid misinformation and misrepresentation. Remember, many vapers are former smokers, and previous smoking habits can significantly contribute to health issues wrongly attributed to vaping.
E-Cigarettes: A Different Beast
E-Cigarettes are fundamentally different from tobacco cigarettes. They don’t contain tobacco or burn, so they shouldn’t be equated with traditional cigarettes. Misrepresenting public health guidance and treating e-cigarettes as traditional tobacco cigarettes, as the Cardiff study did, can lead to misguided conclusions.
The Global Perspective on E-Cigarettes
Public health views on e-cigarettes vary globally. Public Health England asserts that e-cigarettes are at least 95% less harmful than conventional tobacco cigarettes. On the other hand, Cancer Research UK, based on their investigations, states that e-cigarettes are 97% less harmful.
Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates, warns against considering the World Health Organization’s (WHO) anti-vaping stance as the ‘official’ public health position. This perspective, she argues, may be significantly influenced by the vaping industry’s “wild west” scenario in the United States, where regulation was slow to come into effect, leading to overbearing implementation.
Beyond the Vape Clouds: The Final Verdict
Amidst the smoke and mirrors surrounding vaping, maintaining perspective is vital. We must question the motivations behind studies that claim dangers from vaping. Most importantly, we need to remember that e-cigarettes are primarily a smoking cessation tool. They should be compared to the harm caused by traditional cigarettes, considering the damage done by cigarettes before the transition to vaping.
If you’re a smoker contemplating switching to e-cigarettes, remember it could eliminate most of the harm from smoking. According to Public Health England, the harm reduction could be as much as 95%, and Cancer Research UK suggests an even higher figure of 97%. So why not give it a try? Explore our range of starter kits at Miracle E-Cigarette and make the switch today!
