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Cannabis linked to gum disease

06/02/2008

Young people who smoke marijuana (cannabis) could be putting themselves at higher risk of gum disease, research has found.

The study is the first to determine whether or not smoking a substance other than tobacco may be a risk factor for the disease.

After taking other factors into account, such as socioeconomic status and tobacco smoking, researchers in New Zealand found a "strong association" between cannabis use and gum disease by the age of 32.

Study participants who smoked the most cannabis were 1.6 times more likely to have to have at least one site with mild periodontal (gum) disease than those who had never smoked cannabis.

Even those who smoked cannabis at a 'mild' rate (fewer than 41 times a year) were more likely to have mild and severe gum disease than people who never used the drug.

"The study's demonstration of a strong association between cannabis use and periodontitis experience by age 32 years indicates that long-term smoking of cannabis is detrimental to the periodontal tissues and that public health measures to reduce the prevalence of cannabis smoking may have periodontal benefits for the population," the researchers write in Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Although definitively establishing the periodontal effects of exposure to cannabis smoke should await confirmation in other populations and settings, health promoters and dental and medical practitioners should take steps to raise awareness of the strong probability that regular cannabis users may be doing damage to the tissues that support their teeth."