Since e-cigarettes became commercially available in the mid-2000s, vaping has increased rapidly in populations around the world, including markets in North America and Europe. According to Statistics Canada, in 2021 nearly half (48%) of young adults had tried vaping, 17% had vaped in the last month, and about 9% vaped on a daily basis. Overall, 5% of Canadians reported having vaped in the past 30 days. The Effects of Vaping on Oral Health A systematic review evaluates the latest science on vaping and e-cigarettes Dr. Irene Yang is an assistant professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University. Her research primarily focuses on the biologic mechanisms underlying relationships among vaping behavior, periodontal disease and various health outcomes including preterm birth and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Yang grew up in Toronto, Ontario, and is a proud Canadian. Partly because the technology is new, the oral health effects of vaping are not known definitively. “Studying the effects of vaping has proved challenging because users tend not to vape exclusively, many also smoke traditional cigarettes,” says Dr. Irene Yang, one author of a systematic review of the oral health impacts of Studying the effects of vaping has proved challenging because users tend not to vape exclusively, many also smoke traditional cigarettes. On top of that, people tend to vape differently. Some vape all day long, while others only vape occasionally. 30 | 2023 | Issue 4
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