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86075 tn?1238115091

"Dirty Mouth"??? Puff Puff

just kidding with that silly title.... thought since these new shouting titles are attention grabbers...lol...

Smoking marijuana, much like smoking tobacco, may increase a person's risk for gum disease that can lead to tooth loss, researchers said on Tuesday.

A study of 903 New Zealanders found that people who smoked marijuana frequently had triple the risk for severe gum disease and a 60 percent higher risk for a milder form of it compared to people who did not smoke the drug, also called cannabis.

People who smoked marijuana less frequently had a smaller increased risk for gum disease, the researchers said.

Gum or periodontal disease is an infection of the tissues surrounding and supporting the teeth. In advanced stages, the gums and bone that support the teeth can become seriously damaged and the teeth can become loose, fall out or have to be removed.

"While it has been known for a few years that tobacco smoking is bad for the periodontal (gum) tissues, no one has investigated whether any other type of smoking is also a risk factor," W. Murray Thomson, a professor of dental public health at the University of Otago in New Zealand, said by e-mail.

"We suspected we would indeed find that cannabis smoking was a risk factor, but what surprised us was the strength of the relationship," added Thomson, who led the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

His team tracked a group of people in Dunedin, New Zealand, since their births in 1972 and 1973. They were age 32 when the researchers identified the "strong association" between marijuana use and gum disease.
12 Responses
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190885 tn?1333025891
i'm sure proper care and genes play a big part but something i don't see here is water supply...like if you are raised on a public water supply with fluoride added and other stuff checked out...if you go into some back country areas you will notice many folks with real bad teeth..i think this is often from the water they drink not as much the care or it could be a combination of a lot of things.....my teeth went so far down hill as i got hep sx....billy
Helpful - 0
86075 tn?1238115091
I think everybody is right, as I do with so many of these issues...it's genes, in that some people have more natural enzymes, etc...that help fight cavities and they have good enamel on their teeth...

But I also think it's how well you take care of them with most people...I think it's the most natural thing in the world to extrapolate out our own experiences -universal truths....this happens all the time, with me too...but to be as objective as possible, I think these issues have many sides to them....

The kid I take care of (I got her when she was 15, both her parents are alcoholic/ drug addicts and weren't taking care of her so I took her in) had horrible, I mean horrible personal habits when I first got her...she was bathing maybe once a week, if that...don't think she hardly ever washed her hair...and she almost never brushed her teeth....it was like she was raised by wolves or something....it was very sad.

(She's now graduating from high school this summer, and though she still has issues, who doesn't? she's like a different person then that sad little girl I took in, happily...)

Well, she had a bad case of gingivitis, the dentist told me he only saw gingivitis and cavities, etc like that in much older people...once I got her, I MADE her take care of her teeth, I was like Colonel Klink or something, I was on her like white on rice...her breath would knock me out of the room at 30 ft...I couldn't take it...her teeth looked like they had muck on them, and I guess they did...

After months and months of me making her floss at least once a day, on a good day morning and night, and making her brush her teeth regularly and properly...

her teeth are wonderful now, no cavities, no gingivitis, nothing....you can ask any dentist and they'll tell you -  if you really make an effort in taking care of your teeth, you can retard the disintegration of your teeth and gums....I mean, to think, what kind of bacteria is in your mouth if you have food between your teeth and go to sleep?, etc....plus I don't let her eat a bunch of sugar which was the main staple of her diet when I got her..lol....

But then genes play a part in it too...., I knew a few people who took very minimal care of their teeth, and yet had great teeth...but one can't count on that happening with everybody, not by a long shot...

I'm the opposite, I take excellent care of my teeth and always have...for the most part...yet I have soft teeth I inherited from my parents and I've had tons, I mean tons of work on them...especially in the last few years, everyone of them is fortified with crown, caps, etc etc...I paid a small fortune for this set of choppers...lol...and now it seems like I'm clamping down on them out of stress...oh well!!!  

As far as this study, I think of most of these things are interesting, and maybe indicators.....I think they'd have to do a lot more studies, etc to really come up with anything conclusive, as with most of these studies...but then again, if you're doing something that is making smoke in your mouth (not a natural combustible) I don't think it would be GREAT for the old teefers...just my take...
Helpful - 0
250084 tn?1303307435
It's not the pot...it's all the 'munchies' cr*p stonys eat :}
(been a long time here!)

Got lucky there too, not much dental ever needed except a root canal gone bad and was @ to get  bridge work (left side) before dx and tx. How long do we have to wait after tx, BTW?? Need 2 bottom wisdom out too, 49, about time I guess :}

LL
Helpful - 0
163305 tn?1333668571
These titles make me feel like I've been hit up side the head. STOP IT, Medhelp!!!!

As far as pot goes, studies prove what studies are paid to prove. Who backs this? Not NORMAL. This is just more confusion to throw into the chaos of supposed information.
Helpful - 0
131817 tn?1209529311
Don't make me jealous, I have had lousy teeth my whole life.  Yuck. Wish I had those genes!!  Smoke a cigar for me, will ya!

What is with these huge titles anyway? do they think we can't see? If we couldn't see we wouldn't be able to read the posts anyway!  We need to save space around here, not take up more. They need to get rid of the "report this" too. What are we gonna report?  Hey LL and Forseegood are being silly again?  C'mon, the one at the bottom of the thread was enough.  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I find it to be more genetics than anything else.  My grandmother, mother, and sister do not smoke and never have, they still have the gum disease.  And yes, my mom and sister floss.  Grandmother had false teeth.  I am a smoker and have the same disease.  Yes, my smoking does not help but it is in the GENES!!!  Would it make a difference for me, I doubt it.

Just an FYI

Cajun
Helpful - 0
388154 tn?1306361691
I used to smock red libanon, yellow libanon, black lib schewinggum lib hand pressed afghan, packistan, glaesturk, white tempelnepal, gin nepal, marock, thaisticks even haschis from Buchahara (asian russia) that i did 5- 10 times a day for 10years didnt effect my teeths.
Helpful - 0
148987 tn?1287805926
I went to the dentist the first time in my life at the age of 22 when I had my front tooth knocked out and had to have a crown put on. I went another 20 years till I had a wisdom tooth pulled because of a cavity. The only one I've ever  had. Never been obsessive about dental hygiene. In fact I think I've had my teeth cleaned twice and never flossed etc. I just got the genes. When I busted out my front tooth the dentist said, 'What a shame, you have perfect teeth.' And I smoke plenty of weed in my day. It's genetics. You have a good gene here and a messed up gene there. One day, it will be Gattaca and we will all be perfect.
Helpful - 0
86075 tn?1238115091
uh oh...do I detect a Stooges fan???? I knew there was fungus amungus! he he he!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
You can save the big pieces for stew!!!

Can't believe I said that. nyuck nyuck nyuck!
Helpful - 0
86075 tn?1238115091
good one! Or maybe youre so high you want to save the little bits for a snack later!
he he he!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Maybe that's because you keep forgetting where you put the floss!

These titles are HUGE!!!
Helpful - 0
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