How Does Vaping Play a Role in Gum Disease?

E-cigarette users have a less healthy oral bacterial community than non-smokers but are potentially healthier than cigarette smokers, and measure worsening gum disease over time. This finding is published in mBio.

“To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study of oral health and e-cigarette use. We are now beginning to understand how e-cigarettes and the chemicals they contain are changing the oral microbiome and disrupting the balance of bacteria,” said Deepak Saxena, who led the research with Xin Li; both are professors of molecular pathobiology at NYU College of Dentistry.

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‘Oral bacterial makeup for e-cigarette users had strikingly more in common with cigarette smokers that favor gum disease onset.’

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Gum disease affects nearly half of U.S. adults over 30 years of age. Smoking cigarettes is a known risk factor for developing gum disease, but less is known about the impact of e-cigarettes.

To know this, researchers studied the oral health of 84 adults from three groups: cigarette smokers, e-cigarette users, and people who have never smoked.

Gum disease was assessed through two dental exams six months apart, during which plaque samples were taken to analyze the bacteria present.

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All participants had some gum disease at the start of the study, with cigarette smokers having the most severe disease, followed by e-cigarette users. After six months, the researchers observed that gum disease had worsened in some participants in each group, including several e-cigarette users.

A key indicator of gum disease is clinical attachment loss, measured by gum ligament and tissue separating from a tooth’s surface, leading the gum to recede and form pockets. These pockets are breeding grounds for bacteria and can lead to more severe gum disease.

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Later, they analyzed the bacteria found in the plaque samples and determined that e-cigarette users have a different oral microbiome from smokers and nonsmokers.

Several types of bacteria, including Selenomonas, Leptotrichia, and Saccharibacteria, were abundant in both smokers and vapers compared to nonsmokers. Several other bacteria—including Fusobacterium and Bacteroidales, which are known to be associated with gum disease—were particularly dominant in the mouths of e-cigarette users.

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When plaque samples were gathered and analyzed in the six-month follow-up, the researchers found greater diversity in bacteria for all groups studied, yet each group maintained its own distinct microbiome.

Researchers concluded that the distinct oral microbiome of e-cigarette users elicits altered immune responses, which along with clinical markers for gum disease illustrate how vaping presents its challenge to oral health.

E-cigarette use is a relatively new human habit. Unlike smoking, which has been studied extensively for decades, we know little about the health consequences of e-cigarette use and are just starting to understand how the unique microbiome promoted by vaping impacts oral health and disease.

Source-Medindia