An urgent warning has been issued to vapers after an expert noticed a disturbing trend among users.
An urgent warning has been issued to vapers after an expert noticed a disturbing trend among users.
A dentist is warning regular vapers of a dangerous trend that he’s seeing in his patients.
UK cosmetic dentist Dr Stewart Beggs shared a video on TikTok urging users of the app to be on the look out for “vape tongue”.
“Vape tongue is when you start to lose your taste because you’ve been vaping so much and this is really on the rise because of the popularity of these disposable vapes, which have all these ridiculous flavours,” he said.
He revealed that overconsumption of vapes, and the nicotine inside them, can cause dry mouth that is so severe some people are losing their sense of taste.
Beggs went on to say the condition was extremely bad for users’ health.
Better Health Vic’s website confirms that dry mouth over a long period of time can lead to tooth decay.
Treatment of the condition involves cutting down vaping, consuming more water and staying on top of your dental care regimen.
Vaping is on the rise due to the popularity of disposable vapes, with various flavours. Photo / Getty Images
The frightening revelation comes after Lucy Turchin, 35, told news.com.au in May she resorted to vaping thinking it was a safe alternative to smoking. Just four months after picking up her first vape, she realised there was something up with her breathing.
Turchin voiced her concerns to multiple doctors, asking if there were issues with her lungs and if it was a result of vaping.
However, medical professionals insisted vaping was safe and diagnosed her with anxiety when nothing was showing in her X-ray scans.
“As my symptoms worsened, I became more and more depressed,” Turchin said.
Turchin quit vaping and six months later her symptoms had disappeared and she felt she was getting her life back together.
Still following up with doctors, Turchin was then diagnosed with vocal chord dysfunction by an allergy expert, who hadn’t even performed any tests on her.
A user took to vaping as she believed it was a safe alternative to smoking. Photo / Getty Images
She resorted to smoking cigarettes for four months and was feeling good before she took one hit from a mate’s vape.
All the symptoms came back instantly and she was beside herself, feeling let down by the medical professionals that told her vaping was safe.
When someone blew vape smoke into her face she “felt her lungs swell up” and things took a turn for the worse.
She ended up being hospitalised and assigned a doctor who listened to her concerns about her lungs.
A high-resolution CAT scan of Turchin’s lung revealed she had hypersensitivity pneumonitis, an inflammation of the lung tissue triggered in the immune system after breathing in toxic substances such as mould.
It’s been three years since Turchin stopped vaping for good and she is still in pain and frightened about leaving the house in case someone accidentally blows vape smoke in her direction.
