Should i try chewing tobacco

Since , smokeless tobacco transitioned from being primarily used by older men to predominantly young men and boys. Almost half of chew users started before they were 18, and young men are now 50 percent more likely than older men to be regular users. Chew and smokeless tobacco products can be just as addictive as cigarettes because all of these products contain nicotine. If you suck on tobacco of any kind, it can still harm you.

Even if you brush your teeth or rinse your mouth after using chew, the high sugar content can erode tooth enamel. And you have still absorbed nicotine through your gums. Plus, chew users can suffer from black, furry tongue, gum recession, leukoplakia white or gray patches inside the mouth and other nasty side effects.

Alternative products Chew tobacco. Chew Tobacco. Definitely Not a Safe Alternative to Smoking Get the facts about chew, spit and dip tobacco Some may see spit or smokeless tobacco as a less harmful alternative to smoking cigarettes.

Oral tobacco products include: Chew — tobacco that comes in the form of a loose leaf, plug, twist or roll. Pieces are placed between the cheek and gums and the juice is spit. Also called spit, dip or spit tobacco. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.

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Smokeless tobacco products Chewing tobacco and other forms of smokeless tobacco are more harmful and addictive than you might think. By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. Show references Smokeless tobacco fact sheets. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Accessed Jan. Health risks of smokeless tobacco. American Cancer Society. Seidenberg AB, et al. Kleigman RM, et al. Substance abuse. In: Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. In teens, using nicotine can also harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control. It may also increase the risk for future addiction to other drugs. Dissolvable tobacco is of special concern because at this time little is known about the health effects of these products.

Because they are so tempting, they can easily poison children and pets. Manufacturers often imply or even claim that spit or smokeless tobacco can help people quit smoking. A lot of people believe and try this. But no smokeless tobacco product has been proven to help people quit smoking. Unlike US Food and Drug Administration FDA -approved standard treatments that have been proven to work such as nicotine replacement therapy NRT and certain drugs , oral tobacco products have not been tested thoroughly to see if they can help a person stop smoking.

And research to date has not shown that they really help a person quit. Even if using smokeless tobacco helps some people give up smoking, it still can cause cancer and other health problems, so it's not a safe alternative.

For more, see How to Quit Using Tobacco. Your chances of quitting get better each time you try! Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. What Is Smokeless Tobacco? Smokeless tobacco comes as either snuff or chewing tobacco: Snuff is finer-grain tobacco that sometimes comes in pouches that look like teabags.

Chewing tobacco is larger-grain tobacco leaves that are twisted or shredded and come loose in paper packets or small cans. Why Is Smokeless Tobacco Dangerous? If you use smokeless tobacco, these tips can help you quit: Use nicotine gum or a nicotine patch, but only after talking to your doctor about which would work best for you.