Health Concerns.

[Alejo R.]

You

I tried smoking a pipe some thirty years ago but never liked it, but I found new interest after walking into a pipe shop and purchasing a churchwarden pipe a week ago. I fired it up today for the first time and at age 64 found I really liked sitting on the porch and smoking this new pipe. Now being a person who has never really smoked I have health concerns due to the fact I may really like this.

You're 64, if you smoke a lot of pipes you could be developing cancer by the age of 105. I'd be worried too.
Seriously speaking, statistically the average pipe smoker is no different from a non-smoker in terms of cardiopulmonary disease.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

This brings up a good question on oral hygiene. I'd like to know what the teeth and gums are like of those who have smoked frequently for years. I smoke twice a day currently.

or what the teeth and gums are like of those individuals whose been using traditional chewing tobacco for years,,

 

[JOHN72]

At the moment I only smoke with my pipe on the left side of my mouth. Maybe it's Russian roulette, or maybe nothing ever happens. I admit that I love to leave my pipe in my mouth, hands free. As you say here, annual medical checkups in general, dentist, etc. Physical exercise and a healthy eating habit. Laugh a lot and make love when you tell your wife that you are not going to buy tobacco anymore. Never, never ever.

 

[newbroom]

The benefits I take from the hobby have far outweighed my initial considerations.
I admit that I smoked indoor for a couple years or so, as well as outside, but, after a rare visit to my hermit headquarters from both my kids and their spouses, one winter, I realized that smoking inside was not healthy. So, I get exercise now, most of the time when I step outside for a pipe!
I am a former roll your own cigarette smoker who loved Drum tobacco and its papers. I got less cough from this combo than any other cig. When Drum became extremely (to me) more expensive I started looking for a substitute, but could never find the equivalent paper. It's the damned paper ( and of course, the inhaling) that is not healthy.
Once I figured out the pipe, my lungs cleared, my taste buds became more sensitive, and my need for nicotine became much less of a motivation. I do not inhale! I love it!

 

[burleybreath]

This brings up a good question on oral hygiene. I'd like to know what the teeth and gums are like of those who have smoked frequently for years. I smoke twice a day currently.

Gums and periodontal disease would be the relevant issue here, re smoking. Mine are great, according to my dentist, and I'm an old bastard, a smoker for five decades. Just floss at least every day. And do it right. (How anyone can not floss, i.e. scrape the scum from under the gumline, eludes my comprehension.)

 

[didimauw]

Smoking is bad.

There I said it.