Tobacco Toothpaste? In India, It's Still Common Feb. 24, 2004 By Nancy Volkers InteliHealth News Service INTELIHEALTH -- While teen-agers in the United States are being urged not to smoke or use snuff, many teen-agers in India are using tobacco-laced products to clean their teeth or gargle. A recent study of teen-agers in 14 Indian states showed as many as 68 percent of adolescents in some areas used some type of tobacco product to care for their teeth or mouths. Tobacco powders and paste (creamy snuff) are widely used in India and are sometimes illegally marketed as dental-care products. The study focused on Indian adolescents aged 13 to 15. They were asked if they had used tobacco paste or powder in the last 30 days and if they used it as a dental-care product. The study included data from 14 Indian states. From 2 percent to 25 percent of the adolescents surveyed used tobacco toothpaste; tooth powder use ranged from 2 percent to 49 percent. Other types used included roasted and powdered tobacco (mishri), dry snuff (bajjar or tapkir), a paste of tobacco and molasses (gudakhu), and tobacco water (for gargling; it is made by passing tobacco smoke through water). Six to 68 percent of the teen-agers surveyed said they used these tobacco products as part of their dental care. The misconception that tobacco is useful for dental hygiene is widespread in India: Previous studies have found that as many as 92 percent of women and 28 percent of men start using tobacco because they think it will help with their dental problems. A 1992 amendment to India's Drugs and Cosmetics Act barred manufacturers from using tobacco in any paste or powder used for dental care. Although the study data were collected 10 years after this amendment, many students said they still use products containing tobacco as dental-care products, and some companies still package and market their tobacco products as being useful for dental care. The study was carried out by researchers from the Indian states of Patna and Mumbai in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It appears in the Feb. 7 issue of the British Medical Journal.