JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Given the paucity of safety studies related to e-cigarettes today, there are no definitive studies on whether e-cigarettes cause oral mucosal lesions or even oral cancer. Although it is still undetermined whether e-cigarettes are harmless, an increasing number of teenagers choose to smoke e-cigarettes and believe that e-cigarettes are not harmful to the human body. The aim of this study was to determine whether e-cigarettes cause damage to the oral mucosa.

Objective:

Aim This study aims to evaluate the association between e-cigarette smoking and oral mucous membrane lesions in young adults. Objectives (i) To compare the oral mucosal conditions in participants with and without e-cigarette smoking habits. (ii) To assess the effect of the amount of e-cigarette smoking on oral mucosal conditions. (iii) To assess the effect of the duration of e-cigarette smoking on oral mucosal conditions.

Methods:

In a prospective study, 304 youths aged 15 to 24 years of age (152 who smoked only e-cigarettes and 152 who did not smoke e-cigarettes or cigarettes) were divided into two groups for a controlled study. Whether e-cigarettes cause oral mucosal lesions was verified by comparing the odds of oral mucosal lesions in the two experimental groups.

Results:

Not applicable. No step has been taken yet.

Conclusions:

The study will focus on whether e-cigarettes have a negative impact on the oral mucosa and will not consider other factors that may interfere with the results, such as whether the subjects consume alcohol, whether they have a regular routine, and differences in sex. Although these factors will not be included in the experimental considerations, they will be recorded in the questionnaire phase for consideration in future studies. According to previous studies on e-cigarettes, the chemicals in e-cigarettes cause cytotoxicity and damage the oral mucosa [17, 18]. However, given the wide variety of e-cigarettes available in the United States and the many flavors (different flavors of e-cigarettes contain different chemicals), it is not possible to study all of the chemicals in detail, and this should be considered and addressed in future experiments.