Sugar is added to smokeless tobacco to improve its taste, so using smokeless tobacco can also lead to tooth decay. It is estimated some 12 million people in the United States use smokeless tobacco. Many of them are under the mistaken impression that it is safer than smoking. It is not. While lung cancers decrease as people stop smoking, oral cancers have increased.
Oral cancers can be deadly.
Cancers of the mouth and throat are almost nonexistent in adults who do not smoke, chew tobacco or drink alcohol. If you are a tobacco user, you should have regular dental checkups so you and your dentist can both be on the lookout for early signs of oral cancer. However, pain is rarely an early symptom of oral cancer.