Dentists back Government ban on over the counter vapes due to significant risks to oral health

The nation’s dentists today put their backing behind sweeping new changes to vaping laws that will see an end to over the counter sales of non-prescription vapes.

The Health Minster Mark Butler announced a major crackdown on flavoured vapes by the Federal Government yesterday. He also announced there would be a reduction in the amount of tobacco used in prescription-only products provided through GPs.

One in four people aged 18 to 24 and one in six aged 14 to 17 have vaped, often in primary schools, with some schools now installing vape detectors in bathrooms. The NSW Government also announced yesterday it would put vape detectors in 40,000 school toilets.

The moves are in part aimed at shutting down the harmful black market trade in the recreational use of the devices.

“Apart from the effects on general health, the use of vapes is setting the next generation up for a raft of oral health issues, some of which are shown to be more detrimental to mouth health than years of smoking,” said the Australian Dental Association’s President and Melbourne dentist Dr Stephen Liew.

Effects on oral health include an increased level of carcinogens in the saliva of e-cig users, as well as concerning oral lesions and a range of other oral health issues including increased risk of dental decay and gum disease.

Vaping and its effects on oral health is a key topic at the upcoming international FDI World Dental Congress 2023 (FDIWDC23), hosted by the ADA, at the International Convention Centre this coming September.

Prof. Purnima Kumar, a Professor of Dentistry and Chair of the Department of Periodontology and Oral Medicine at the University of Michigan and the American Dental Association’s spokesperson on vaping, has done extensive research into vaping harms and will be presenting her research to the Congress.

She said: “Vaping for six months has the equivalent effect on a user as a smoker who has been smoking for five years. Compared to smoking, vaping is the greater of the two evils as changes occur quicker and cause more damage to the mouth.”

Find out more about the four-day FDIWDC23 (September 24-27) in which vaping and other hot oral health topics will be covered.