What are the harms and disadvantages of eating betel nut?

What are the harms of eating betel nuts? I believe everyone is quite concerned about this issue. Let me tell you below.

[Warning] Betel nut is a Class 1 carcinogen on the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer list of carcinogens. Chewing betel nut can increase the risk of oral cancer.

Disadvantages of betel nut addiction

1. From the perspective of environmental hygiene, betel nut chewers spit out betel nut juice, which is unsightly and unhygienic. 2. From the perspective of medicine: chewing betel nut is harmful to human health.

What are the effects on human health: 1. Because the lime and betel nut juice fill the mouth, dental tartar is formed, and because of long-term and vigorous chewing, the tooth structure is worn away, and even the teeth are cracked or broken.

2. Impact on the temporomandibular joint: Due to the wear of tooth texture and the wear of the temporomandibular joint surface, the occlusion changes and the pain and lesions of the temporomandibular joint occur, which makes the mouth open and close and causes joint pain. It is not only painful but also very difficult to treat.

Betel nut is harmful to teeth

3. Impact on periodontal tissue: Since betel nut fibers are quite coarse and hard, they can pierce the gums or block the gaps between teeth, causing compression and inflammation of the interdental papillae. Chewing hard can also damage the periodontal membrane, causing inflammation, swelling, and pain around the tooth roots. On the other hand, due to the accumulation of lime and betel nut residues, the calculus becomes thicker and thicker, causing gum damage, redness, swelling, suppuration, and tooth root exposure, resulting in periodontal disease, and eventually causing teeth to fall out one by one or have to be extracted.

4. Impact on oral mucosa: Chewing betel nut causes oral submucous fibrosis and leukoplakia, which are the precursors of oral cancer. Its clinical symptoms include difficulty opening the mouth, pain, numbness, whitening of the oral mucosa and ulcers.

Betel nut is harmful to the digestive system

5. Impact on the digestive system: Betel nut juice stains the black lips, teeth and cheeks, affecting the appearance, and damages the taste nerves and saliva secretion, hindering the digestive function. Betel nut residue irritates the stomach wall, causing inflammation and even perforation of the gastric mucosa, affecting nutrient absorption and causing malnutrition.