A friend asked how her husband has so many more cavities
than herself. They eat the same meals; drink the same beverages, brush and
floss at the same times. The only difference is he chews tobacco. He knows this
puts him at risk for oral cancer and has the VELScope evaluation performed
annually, but had no idea how much sugar was in chewing tobacco. I did not
realize how much sugar was in chewing tobacco either until I started researching.
Sugar is not natural to the tobacco leaf. It was added by the tobacco companies to
improve the flavor and sales. The flavor was added by the tobacco companies to
give the chewing tobacco a better taste so people wouldn’t have to spit, but
could just swallow the juice produced.
Depending on the brand and how much one chews, there could be from 3 tsp to
16 tablespoons of sugar (if one chews up an entire can of the stuff). That
could be up to 32 packets of sugar! Plug
tobacco was better at 12 teaspoons of sugar added per plug. That is still 6
packets of sugar!
There are many names for chewing tobacco. You can call it
smokeless tobacco, spit tobacco, chew, snuff, pinch or dip, but don't call it
harmless. Chewing tobacco can cause serious health problems. Many people
realize there is a concern of oral cancer with chewing tobacco. However, there
are many other health risks involved with chewing tobacco. Chewing tobacco can
cause gum recession and mouth sores. It can also cause stomach ulcers if the
juice is swallowed. The nicotine causes vasoconstriction leading to high blood
pressure and heart diseases such as cardiac ischemia (not enough oxygen to the
heart), angina pectoris (constricting pain in the chest) and acute myocardial
infarction (nonreversible damage to the heart muscle by a heart attack).
Nicotine has been shown to increase heart rate and contribute to clotting
within the blood vessels.
So again, simple activities such as chewing tobacco have a
bigger impact on your body that goes well beyond what it does to your
teeth. This habit could seriously impact
your health in many ways besides the impact of poor nutrition from tooth
loss. This is why our office encourages
healthy habits for your entire body, not just your mouth.
