Does chewing tobacco harm your teeth? What does chewing tobacco do to your gums? Can chewing tobacco cause cancer?

For those who may be unfamiliar, chewing tobacco is what we get when we take ground up tobacco leaves, which are usually placed inside a pouch and placed in the lower part of the mouth against the cheek. Some people see chewing tobacco as being less harmful than cigarettes because of the lack of smoke. While chewing tobacco IS much less harmful to your lungs than smoking or vaping, there are still substantial oral effects that we see in those who use chewing tobacco. Wherever you place the chewing tobacco in your mouth, you will actually start to develop little white spots. This is your body trying to form a callus in an attempt to protect you from the harmful substances that are going into your body. As the callus changes, it develops a much higher chance of turning into oral cancer. If you’ve tuned in to our oral cancer videos, you know that this is something we check for every time you come in to our office. If oral cancer does develop, however, it can be very serious if left untreated. Chewing tobacco by itself can cause oral cancer. In addition to that, if there is any form of alcohol to go along with chewing tobacco, the chances of developing oral cancer increase by 4 or 5 times more than those using either tobacco or alcohol individually. Mixing chewing tobacco and alcohol can be a very dangerous combination. 

We recommend that people try to cut back on all tobacco use in order to live a long and healthy life! If you have any other questions, feel free to contact us today!

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