Is there evidence that e-cigarettes promote an increased risk of dental caries?

DATA SOURCES: This study was conducted on a sample of patients who attended the dental clinic at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, between January 1, 2019 and January 1, 2022. Ethical approval was obtained before commencing the research.

STUDY SELECTION: This cross-sectional study was carried out through an electronic search of electronic records. It includes patients aged over 16 years, both electronic cigarette (e-cigarettes) users and non-users, with recorded caries risk assessments. Patients with a history of recreational drug use or lacking a caries diagnosis were excluded. The Caries Management by Risk Assessment (CAMBRA) was utilized to indicate and classify caries risk.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Descriptive statistics, multivariate and bivariate analyzes were used to assess the relationship between use of e-cigarettes and caries risk level. SPSS software, Version 26 (IBM) was used in the analysis with significance level set at α = 0.05.

RESULTS

Out of a total of 13,216 patients included in the research, 13,080 (99.3%) self-declared as non-users of e-cigarettes, and 136 (0.69%) were e-cigarette users. There was a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001) in caries risk levels between e-cigarette users (6.6% low, 14.3% moderate, and 79.1% high caries risk level) and control group (14.5% low, 25.9% moderate, and 59.6% high caries risk level).

CONCLUSIONS

The study provides evidence supporting the notion that e-cigarette users exhibit a high level of caries risk.