SnoreDentist

Hooked on Hookah

It's a social thing, especially for young, hip urbanites and young professionals living close to a college campus. Smoking a hookah, or waterpipe, is gaining in popularity in the U.S. and is just as dangerous as smoking tobacco or other forms of tobacco.

One user compared a hookah bar or cafe to being at home, but with cooler people. Oral cancer is not cool. And it's no longer an "old man's" disease.

The hookah is a water reservoir with a tobacco heater, pipe and attached hose(s). The user sucks flavored tobacco smoke into the reservoir that acts somewhat like a filter, then sucks the smoke out through the hose and into his or her lungs. Even with a "filter," the hookah is an effective nicotine and carcinogen delivery system.

The belief that smoking a hookah is safer than smoking a cigarette is bogus. Here's why.

It takes from 5- to 10-minutes to smoke a cigarette. A hookah session is 45 minutes to one hour, during which time the hookah smoker breathes in smoke equivalent to 100 to 200 cigarettes! That smoke delivers at least 100 times more nicotine, heavy metals, carbon monoxide and cancer-causing chemicals than is delivered by one cigarette.

The hookah smoker has 13 times the risk of developing cancer of the larynx and a nearly 4 times higher risk of developing throat cancer. The longer exposure increases the smoker's risk of dental diseases, heart disease and lung and stomach cancer.

Tobacco use is the most preventable cause of death, but we need your help. We perform an oral cancer exam as part of your regular hygiene check-up. Please make and keep your check-up appointments.