Our team of specialists and staff believe that informed patients are better equipped to make decisions regarding their health and well being. For your personal use, we have created an extensive patient library covering an array of educational topics. Browse through these diagnoses and treatments to learn more about topics of interest to you. Or, for a more comprehensive search of our entire Web site, enter your term(s) in the search bar provided.
As always, you can contact our office to answer any questions or concerns.
Our Library at a quick glance:
Ears
- Children and Facial Paralysis
- Child's Hearing Loss
- Cholesteatoma
- Cochlear Implants
- Dizziness and Motion Sickness
- Fall Prevention
- Ear Plastic Surgery
- Ear Tubes
- Earaches
- Ears and Altitude
- Earwax
- Quick Glossary for Good Ear Health
- Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease
- Better Ear Health
- Buying a Hearing Aid
- Child Screening
- Chronic Otitis Media
- Cochlear-Meningitis Vaccination
- Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat Problems
- Ear Infection and Vaccines
- Your Genes and Hearing Loss
- How the Ear Works
- Hyperacusis
- Know the Power of Sound
- Noise-Induced Hearing Loss In Children
- Pediatric Obesity
- What You Should Know About Otosclerosis
- When Your Child Has Tinnitus
- Why Do Children Have Earaches?
- Infant Hearing Loss
- Noise and Hearing Protection
- Perforated Eardrum
- Swimmer's Ear
- Tinnitus (also, heres a link to a very good tinnitus organization ATA)
- TMJ
Throat
- About Your Voice
- Common Problems That Can Affect Your Voice
- Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat
- Effects of Medications on Voice
- Gastroesphageal Reflux (GERD)
- How Allergies Affect your Child's Ears, Nose, and Throat
- Laryngeal (Voice Box) Cancer
- Laryngopharyngeal Reflux and Children
- Nodules, Polyps, and Cysts
- Pediatric GERD
- Pediatric Obesity and Ear, Nose, and Throat Disorders
- Special Care for Occupational and Professional Voice Users
- Tips for Healthy Voices
- Tonsils and Adenoids
- Tonsillectomy Procedures
- Tonsillitis
- Tonsils and Adenoids PostOp
- Vocal Cord Paralysis
- GERD and LPR
- Hoarseness
- How the Voice Works
- Secondhand Smoke
- Sore Throats
- Swallowing Disorders
Nose and Mouth
- Allergies and Hay Fever
- Antihistamines, Decongestants, and "Cold" Remedies
- Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)
- Facial Sports Injuries
- 20 Questions about Your Sinuses
- Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)
- Allergic Rhinitis, Sinusitis, and Rhinosinusitis
- Antibiotics and Sinusitis
- Are We Through With Chew Yet?
- Could My Child Have Sleep Apnea?
- Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat Problems
- Deviated Septum
- Do I Have Sinusitis?
- How Allergies Affect your Child's Ears, Nose, and Throat
- Pediatric Obesity
- Sinus Headaches
- Sinus Pain
- Sinus Surgery
- Sinusitis: Special Considerations for Aging Patients
- Tips for Sinus Sufferers
- Tongue-tie (Ankyloglossia)
- Your Nose: The Guardian Of Your Lungs
- Fungal Sinusitis
- Mouth Sores
- Nasal Fractures
- Nose Surgery
- Nosebleeds
- Post-Nasal Drip
- Salivary Glands
- Secondhand Smoke
- Sinusitis
- Smell and Taste
- Smokeless Tobacco
- Snoring
- Stuffy Noses
- TMJ Pain
Head and Neck
- Facial Plastic Surgery
- Facial Sports Injuries
- Children and Facial Trauma
- Pediatric Head and Neck Tumors
- Head and Neck Cancer
- Thyroid Nodules
- Laryngeal (Voice Box) Cancer
- Pediatric Thyroid Cancer
- Rhabdomyosarcoma
- Smokeless Tobacco
- Are We Through With Chew Yet?
- Quiting Smokeless Tobacco
- Secondhand Smoke
- Skin Cancer
Pediatric
- Child Screening
- Children and Facial Trauma
- Could My Child Have Sleep Apnea?
- Day Care and Ear, Nose, and Throat
- How Allergies Affect your Child's Ears, Nose, and Throat
- Pediatric Food Allergies
- Pediatric Obesity and Ear, Nose, and Throat Disorders
- Pediatric Sinusitis
- Secondhand Smoke and Children
- Tonsillitis
- Tonsillectomy Procedures
- Tonsils and Adenoids PostOp
- Ear Tubes
Espanol
- Colesteatoma
- Diábolos Estudio acerca de causas y opciones terapéuticas
- Doctor? ¿Por Qué a Mi Hijo Le Duele El OÃdo?
- Doctor? ¿Qué Causa El Ruido En El OÃdo?
- El Humo del Tabaco Ambiental y los Niños
- La pérdida de la audición
- Otitis Media Crónica (Infección del OÃdo Medio) e Hipocusia
- Perfóracion Timpánica
- Qué Debe Saber Acerca de la Otoesclerosis
- Screening de Audición en Niños
- Sirvan Las Amigdalas Y Los Adenoides?
Insight into its effects on the body
- What chemicals are in smokeless tobacco?
- Who uses smokeless tobacco?
- Tips for quitting
- and more...
Three percent of American adults are smokeless tobacco users. They run the same risks of gum disease, heart disease, and addiction as cigarette users, but an even greater risk of oral cancer. Each year about 30,000 Americans are diagnosed with oral and pharyngeal cancers, and more than 8,000 people die of these diseases. Despite the health risks associated with tobacco use, consumers continue to demand the product. In 2001, the five largest tobacco manufacturers spent $236.7 million on smokeless tobacco advertising and promotion.
What is smokeless tobacco?
There are two forms of smokeless tobacco: chewing tobacco and snuff. Chewing tobacco is usually sold as leaf tobacco (packaged in a pouch) or plug tobacco (in brick form). Both are placed between the cheek and gum. Users keep chewing tobacco in their mouths for several hours to get a continuous high from the nicotine in the tobacco.
Snuff is a powdered tobacco (usually sold in cans) that is put between the lower lip and the gum. It is also referred to as “dipping.” Just a pinch is all that’s needed to release the nicotine, which is then swiftly absorbed into the bloodstream, resulting in a quick high.
The chemicals contained in chew or snuff are poisonous and addictive. Every time smokeless tobacco is used, the body adjusts to the amount of tobacco needed to get a high. Consequently, the next time tobacco is used, the body will need a little more to get the same feeling. Holding an average-sized dip or chew in the mouth for 30 minutes gives the user as much nicotine as smoking four cigarettes.
Is smokeless tobacco less harmful than cigarettes?
In 1986, the U.S. Surgeon General declared that the use of smokeless tobacco “is not a safe substitute for smoking cigarettes. It can cause cancer and a number of noncancerous conditions and can lead to nicotine addiction and dependence.” Also, since 1991, the National Cancer Institute has recommended that the public avoid the use of all tobacco products, due to their high levels of nitrosamines.
In a recent study, cancer researchers found that oral tobacco products, including lozenges and moist snuff, are not a good alternative to smoking, since the levels of cancer-causing nitrosamines in smokeless tobacco and lozenges are very high. Some smokeless products contain the highest amounts of nicotine that can be readily absorbed by the body.
What are the ingredients in smokeless tobacco?
- Polonium 210 (nuclear waste)
- N-Nitrosamines (cancer-causing)
- Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)
- Nicotine (addictive drug)
- Cadmium (used in batteries and nuclear reactor shields)
- Cyanide (poisonous compound)
- Arsenic (poinsonous metallic element)
- Benzene (used in insecticides and motor fuels)
- Lead (nerve poison)
Who are the most common smokeless tobacco users?
According to the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, young adults between the ages of 18-25 are the most common smokeless tobacco users. This trend may be influenced by innovative marketing tactics targeted at a younger audience.
Smokeless tobacco manufacturers are marketing flavored smokeless tobacco. A 2005 American Legacy Foundation and National Cancer Institute study noted, “Tobacco companies are using candy-like flavors and high tech delivery devices to turn a blowtorch into a flavored popsicle, misleading millions of youngsters to try a deadly product.”
What are the physical and mental effects of smokeless tobacco use?
Cancer. Smokeless tobacco is a cancer-causing agent, also knows as a carcinogen. Cancers are most likely to develop at the site where tobacco is held in the mouth, but it may also include the lips, tongue, cheek, and throat.
Leukoplakia. Smokeless tobacco users may develop a condition in which white spots form on the gums, inside of the cheeks, and sometimes on the tongue. It can be caused by the irritation from the tobacco juice, and the disorder can be considered pre-cancerous. Therefore, if a white patch does not heal within one week, consult a doctor.
Heart disease. The stimulating effects of nicotine, an organic compound made of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sometimes oxygen, increase the heart rate and blood pressure and may trigger irregular heartbeats.
Gum and tooth disease. Smokeless tobacco permanently discolors teeth, causes halitosis (bad breath), and may contribute to tooth loss. Smokeless tobacco contains a lot of sugar which forms an acid that may eat away the tooth enamel, causing cavities and mouth sores. Also, its direct and repeated contact with the gums may cause them to recede.
Social effects. Bad breath, discolored teeth.
What are some early warning signs of oral cancer?
- A sore that bleeds easily and does not heal
- A lump or thickening anywhere in the mouth or neck
- Soreness or swelling that does not go away
- A red or white patch that does not go away
- Trouble chewing, swallowing, or moving the tongue or jaw
Tips to quit using smokeless tobacco for a lifetime
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Write down a list of reasons to quit. For example:
- Don’t want to risk getting cancer.
- Family members find it offensive.
- Don’t like having bad breath after chewing and dipping.
- Don’t want stained teeth or no teeth.
- Don’t like being addicted to nicotine.
- Want to start leading a healthier life.
- Pick a date to quit and throw out all chewing tobacco and snuff.
- Remember daily your decision to stop chewing tobacco.
- Ask friends and family to help you stay committed to the decision to quit, by giving you support and encouragement.
- Find alternatives to smokeless tobacco to chew, such as sugarless gum, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, apple slices, raisins, or dried fruit.
- Engage in recreational activities to keep your mind off smokeless tobacco.
- Develop a personalized plan that works best; set realistic goals.
- Reward your successes.
Contact Us
Monday: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Tuesday: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Wednesday: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Thursday: | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Friday: | 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM |
Saturday: | Closed |
Sunday: | Closed |