Smoking marijuana could damage gums

It is already known that smoking marijuana is never good for the lungs and heart, but until now, it wasn't known that heavy cannabis smoking could increase a person's risk for gum disease, one of the most common diseases of adulthood that can lead to tooth loss.

An international team of researchers reported in the Feb. 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that heavy pot users have triple the risk of developing serious gum disease compared to those who haven't smoked marijuana.

To reach their findings, the team of researchers led by Professor Murray Thomson, , a professor of dental public health at the University of Otago in New Zealand, tracked the dental health of 903 people born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1972 and 1973, and identified the "strong association" between marijuana use and gum disease.

The study subjects have been assessed 11 different times since they were 3 years old. The researchers asked the participants about their marijuana use at age 18, and then again at 21, 26 and 32. Their dental examinations were conducted at 26 and 32 years of age.

After analyzing the dental health data of the New Zealanders the researchers found that people who smoked marijuana frequently had as much as three times the risk for severe gum disease among the group by the age of 32 compared to non-pot smokers.

In addition, it raised a 60 percent higher risk for a milder form of the disease compared to people who did not smoke the cannabis, while people who smoked marijuana less frequently had a smaller increased risk for gum disease, the second most common cause of tooth loss, after tooth decay.

"While it has been known for a few years that tobacco smoking is bad for the periodontal (gum) tissues, no one has investigated whether any other type of smoking is also a risk factor," Thomson said.

Now, the landmark novel study has found that long-term heavy marijuana smokers had a greater risk of gum disease by the time they reach their early 30s, he said.

"We suspected we would indeed find that cannabis smoking was a risk factor, but what surprised us was the strength of the relationship," added Thomson.

Gum disease has long been linked to cigarette smoking, but this is the first study to look specifically at marijuana, which according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States.

According to NIDA, Marijuana is a dry, shredded green/brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, and is usually smoked as a cigarette, or in a pipe. Besides increasing the risk of heart disease, head and neck cancers, problems in the lungs and infection, marijuana use has also been associated with social behavior problems.