Smoking marijuana on regular basis as a young adult can lead to gum disease by age 30 or younger, a new study led by New Zealand researchers said.

Gum disease, otherwise known as periodontal disease, is the name of a collection of inflammatory disease affecting the tissues that surround and support the teeth. It involves progressive loss of the bone around teeth, which may lead to loosening and eventual loss of teeth if untreated.

The study conducted by researchers from New Zealand’s Dunedin School of Medicine’s dental department, tracked the smoking and dental habits of 903 people born in Dunedin, in 1972 and 1973. The participants were asked about their cannabis use at ages 18, 21, 26 and 32 years, and dental examinations were conducted at ages 26 and 32, to measure new or worsening gum disease.

The researchers identified three marijuana “exposure” groups: no exposure, 32.3 percent (293 participants); some exposure, 47.4 percent (428 participants), defined as 40 times or less a year and high exposure, 20.2 percent (182 participants), defined as 41 or more times a year.

The researchers discovered that those in the high-use group had a 60 percent increased risk of early periodontal disease, a 3.1 times greater risk of more advanced gum disease and a 2.2 times increased risk of losing a tooth due to gum disease compared to those who did not use marijuana at all.

“While it has been known for a few years that tobacco smoking is bad for the periodontal (gum) tissues, no one has investigated whether any other type of smoking is also a risk factor. We suspected we would indeed find that cannabis smoking was a risk factor, but what surprised us was the strength of the relationship,” said W. Murray Thomson, a professor of dental public health at the University of Otago in New Zealand and leader of the study.

Thomson explained that the effects were not because of the contact of the smoke to the gums, but the toxins present in cannabis, as they were absorbed into the blood through the lungs. This resulted in a decrease in the body’s ability to heal gum inflammations caused by bacteria.

“In the mouth, there is a fine balance between tissue destruction and tissue healing and the various toxins n the smoke disrupt that,” Thomson said.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), marijuana is the most used illicit drug in the U.S. Besides its damaging effect on the gums, marijuana has been associated with increases in the risk of heart disease, head and neck cancers, problems in the lungs and infection. It has also been associated with social behavior problems.

The study, funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, the National Institute of Mental Health, the UK Medical Research Council and the Health Research Council on New Zealand, was published in the February 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.