Cigars and Oral Health
With the increased popularity of cigar smoking as an alternative to
cigarette smoking, due to the publicity campaigns, media exposure, movie-star
attraction, and star athletes who smoke cigars, there has been an increase
in teens and young adults who smoke cigars. Cigar smoking is not a safe
alternative to cigarettes as many believe. The ADA even warns that even
occasional cigar smoking may pose serious health risks. The increased
risk includes tooth and jawbone loss. There is also an increased risk
for cancer in the throat and mouth. Risk of lung cancer and heart attack
may be the same as that of cigarette smokers. Cigar smokers also suffer
from excessive tooth stain and chronic halitosis (bad breath). With the
increased media hype, it is important to warn cigar smokers of the possible
end results.
Cigar smokers face about twice the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat,
or lung as nonsmokers, and about one and a half times the risk of developing
any smoking-related cancer, according to a report published in the June
10th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
The study conducted by Dr. Carlos Iribarren and his team from Kaiser
Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, California also stated that
alcohol consumption in addition to cigar smoking pushed some of these
risks even higher. Cigar smokers who had three or more drinks per day
faced a risk of mouth and throat cancer nearly eight times that of nonsmokers
who drink two or fewer drinks per day.
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