As a dental hygienist, Maurine Rapert has seen the harsh effects on smokeless tobacco use firsthand. She has seen people suffering from stained teeth, gum recession, and possible cancerous lesions.

“Most every person who uses smokeless tobacco has evidence of it,” Rapert said. “It usually appears as a white calloused area in the lip or cheek. Usually, you can tell if someone uses smokeless tobacco just by looking.”

Using smokeless tobacco can cause a number of health problems; the least severe of which are yellow-brown teeth, mouth sores, and bleeding gums and lips. The more serious problems include heart issues, leukoplakia (white patches in the mouth) and
cancer.

“It can cause a lot of problems and it can be disfiguring,” smokeless tobacco researcher Stephen Hecht said. “These are very difficult diseases. They are not easily treated.”

However, using smokeless tobacco at a young age can cause more than just health problems.

“There’s a concern among young people,” professor at the University of California and smokeless tobacco expert Neal Benowitz said. “When they are in high school, they start using smokeless tobacco, then switch to cigarettes.”

If someone does make this switch, they have already suffered the effects of smokeless tobacco, and they are now putting themselves at risk for cancers and other medical problems caused by inhaling nicotine. An additional concern regarding cigarettes and
smokeless tobacco is duel use of the two.

“Duel use is harmful,” Benowitz said. “Instead of people just quitting smoking, they keep smoking while using smokeless tobacco.”

Despite the harmful effects of smokeless tobacco, the 2009 Monitoring the Future survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows use of smokeless tobacco by tenth grade students has increased significantly since 2008. This is of enormous concern to many tobacco experts, especially considering the addictive properties of smokeless tobacco.

“Addiction is a very dangerous thing about smokeless tobacco,” tobacco researcher Irina Stepanov said. “People think that smokeless tobacco isn’t that bad, then they get addicted. There are no safe tobacco products.”

While quitting smokeless tobacco is possible, it is also challenging. Rapert encourages her patients to quit by educating them on the harmful effects of smokeless tobacco and by informing them on various products, such as prescription drugs, that make
quitting easier.

“I tell them to quit, but it’s not easy,” Rapert said. “It’s an addiction and it’s an awful oral fixation. It’s very difficult to stop the process, but some people do. I actually had a patient who said he quit chewing tobacco, but not everyone is as compliant.”

Even though quitting is an option, Hecht believes there is a
better solution.

“Smokeless tobacco delivers nicotine very efficiently, and  nicotine is addictive,” Hecht said. “People have a really hard time quitting smokeless tobacco use. This should be obvious, but I mean, just don’t start using it. It’s not worth it.”

Paige Yungermann