Is Smoking Shisha Bad For You?

Smoking shisha is becoming increasingly popular, especially among young adults and is seen as a lot more socially acceptable than smoking with growing numbers of shisha bars and cafes opening.

In answer to the question, is shisha bad for you – YES it is. Brightside Dental’s principal dentist speaks on this further here: https://youtu.be/1iLwWAZe-6g

Shisha doesn’t just contain nice smelling ingredients like fruit, honey and flavourings, but generally has nicotine and tobacco routinely and often many other harmful chemicals. A study carried out in Brent found arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium present in samples they tested.

Herbal types of shisha are available and usually still contain tobacco.

Myth #1 – Smoking shisha is safer than cigarettes. 45 minutes of smoking shisha is the equivalent of inhaling 100 cigarettes

Myth #2 – Sharing shisha pipes is safe. By sharing pipes with others, you run the risk of catching various diseases such as cold or flu; oral herpes; TB and hepatitis. If you are going to use shisha swap mouthpieces rather than share them; if you’re unwell, don’t share with others. Please note bugs and germs can build up in the pipes and bowl, which can increase the risk of infection.

Myth #3 – I’m safe if am not smoking. If you’re out with friends who are smoking shisha, but you’re still breathing in second hand smoke which contains tobacco and other chemicals. This can be especially harmful for pregnant women and children.

This advice about shisha, follows our recent blogs about smoking and vaping which can be found by clinking these links:

https://www.brightsidedental.co.uk/blog/treatments/dental-advice/national-stop-smoking-day-2019/

https://www.brightsidedental.co.uk/blog/treatments/dental-advice/to-vape-or-not-to-vape/

For more advice, give us a call on 020 88884401.