With Canada being the world’s largest legal cannabis exporter, is it time to study its long-term effects on oral health? University of Toronto researchers believe so.
“Emerging evidence suggests a link between cannabis smoking and oral health issues, including oral cancers,” said Dr. Frank Mauro, a member of the research team at the Confederation College dental clinic, which is collaborating on the study, according to TB News Watch.
Professor Herenia Lawrence of the Faculty of Dentistry is leading the U of T research team, which is seeking volunteers in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario. Participants, aged 19 to 55, will be compensated with up to $250 per year. They will undergo non-invasive tests, including saliva and urine collection, and sensory tests to assess facial pain sensitivity.
The study, funded by a $1.5-million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, will take place over three years and focus on Indigenous youth and adults. Periodic oral health surveys have shown that these groups experience worse oral health outcomes than the general population.
For more information on the U of T project, contact [email protected] or call 416-978-5974.
Post legalization
In 2018, Canada legalized cannabis for non-medical use, production, and sale, becoming the first major industrialized country to regulate its access for recreational purposes. In 2021, Statistics Canada estimated that 22 per cent of Canadians aged 15 and older reported using cannabis in the year before. Usage rates were higher than the national average in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, while Quebec reported lower rates.
In its 2024 survey, Stats Canada said people who reported being full- or part-time students also reported higher rates of past 12-month cannabis use (38 per cent) compared to those who were not students (24 per cent). People who reported being employed full- or part-time reported higher rates of past 12-month cannabis use (29 per cent) compared to those who were not employed (19 per cent). This is consistent with patterns seen in 2018 and 2023.
Meanwhile, a previous study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association found that frequent recreational cannabis use is associated with a higher likelihood of dental problems. The research analyzed data from 5,656 U.S. adults aged 18 to 59, collected between 2015 and 2018 through the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.