The list of weird vaping side effects continues to grow, with doctors now warning of “vape tongue.”
With vaping use reaching epidemic proportions, especially among young people, experts have turned to social media to raise awareness of the health implications.
“Vaping tongue is when you start to lose your taste because you’ve been vaping so much,” Dr Stewart Beggs, a cosmetic dentist based in the UK, shared on TikTok.
“This is really on the rise because of the popularity of these disposable vapes, which have all these ridiculous flavors.”
Dr Stewart Beggs, a cosmetic dentist based in the UK, shared on TikTok that vape tongue is becoming more common with the rise of flavored e-cigarettes
E-cigarettes, especially disposable devices with sky-high amounts of nicotine, have been flying off shelves in recent years, with sales up more than 46 percent amid the Covid pandemic, according to a CDC report
Flavored vaporizers have become extremely popular. A 2022 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggested that 85 percent of college students who vape use flavored e-cigarettes, mostly fruit, candy, dessert, and mint flavors.
An Ohio State University study also found that 40 percent of young people would quit vaping if flavored vapes were banned.
These vapes often get their sweet taste from added sugar and sugar alcohol, which have long been shown to cause tooth decay and gum disease.
A 2021 study in the journal Limits in oral healthfound, for example, that those who smoked or used e-cigarettes were more likely to show signs of gingivitis than nonsmokers.
Vape tongue has several unpleasant side effects, Dr. Beggs said, including dry mouth, dehydration and even a complete loss of taste.
“It’s really, really not good for your health,” he said.
E-cigarettes, especially disposable devices with sky-high amounts of nicotine, have been flying off the shelves in recent years, with sales up more than 46 percent during the Covid pandemic, according to a CDC report.
In fact, sales of disposable vapes more than doubled from January 2020 to December 2022, with nearly 52 percent of total e-cigarette sales last year being disposable.
It is especially popular with young people.
More than nine percent of American teens use e-cigarettes, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), compared to just under eight percent in Britain.
In addition, more than 14 percent of high school students in the U.S. — about 2.14 million teens — currently use e-cigarettes.
If you have a vape tongue, curbing the habit is the first step.
“First off, stop vaping or really cut back on your vaping because that’s really going to help,” said Dr. Beggs.
While you’re trying to kick the habit, focus on treating the symptoms. This includes drinking more water to avoid dehydration and prioritizing oral hygiene. Regular flossing and cleaning your tongue with a tongue scraper can all help, Dr. Beggs said.
Once you have treated the symptoms, eventually quitting or cutting back on vaping is the best thing to avoid vaping tongue in the future.
“If this helps, cut back on how much you’re vaping because you don’t want to get the vaper’s tongue back,” said Dr. Beggs.
“You want to taste your food”