How dentists can tell if you smoke weed

In a TikTok video duet with dental hygienist Iman Zayed, or @millenial_rdh, Dentite confirms the little signs that you’ve been smoking marijuana that your dentist can see just from looking at your mouth.

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The first sign, gum inflammation in reference to the visibly swollen gums in Dentite’s video. According to the American Dental Association, smoking weed has been linked to gum inflammation, which is an early sign of gum disease or even periodontitis.

You know marijuana can give you that cottony feeling inside of your mouth? Dry mouth-associated tooth decay, also known as xerostomia, is another sign your dentist can tell you smoke.

“We see quite a bit of decay, due to dry mouth,” Dentite says in the video. Since marijuana is known to inhibit the flow of saliva, your mouth tends to get dry within one to six hours of use, according to a recent study in the Journal of Substance Use.

With dry mouth comes an increased risk of tooth decay, as seen in the video, becauase saliva helps prevent harmful germs from building up in your mouth, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

However, as Dentite’s video suggests, there is no conclusive data that smoking marijuana is linked to oral cancer specifically.

While marijuana smoke has been associated with some lesions of the mouth, according to a review in the Journal of Substance Use, but other studies have yet to find a significant association.

To Read The Rest Of This Article By Taylon Washington-Harmon on Men’s Health

Published: July 27, 2021