Electronic cigarettes: a safe alternative?

Cigarette smoking is known to be detrimental to oral health, leading to gingivitis, periodontitis and oral cancer. Dental nurses are playing an increasingly important role in advising patients to quit (Cope and Cope, 2009). Now there is another form of nicotine delivery to consider—electronic cigarettes.

Electronic, or e-cigarettes, have been around since 2003 but are now big business in the UK, with over 1 million regular users, who are spending £100 million a year on the devices and refills.

These devices are designed to look and feel like cigarettes, but they do not contain or burn tobacco. Instead, they hold a cartridge of nicotine and with a battery-powered atomiser, which is triggered by the pressure drop when the user inhales, the nicotine is vaporised. The cartridge, along with sometimes large amounts of nicotine, contains liquid carriers, usually propylene glycol, and a variety of flavours, including chocolate!