What is DTL & MTL Vaping?
By Sarmuel Lawrence
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If you’ve heard people talking about DTL vaping and MTL vaping, or read about them online, you might be wondering what they mean. DTL means “direct-to-lung” and MTL means “mouth-to-lung”. They are different ways to inhale the vapour produced by an e-cigarette. Read on to find out about the difference between MTL and DTL vaping, and about a new alternative to smoking you might not have heard of.
What is mouth to lung vaping?
Mouth-to-lung vaping is a type of inhalation where you take the vapour into your mouth first, before inhaling it into the lungs. MTL vaping is similar to how people inhale when smoking a cigarette.
MTL vaping allows the vapour to cool slightly in your mouth before inhaling, and restricts the amount of vapour you can draw into the lungs in a single hit.
Mouth-to-lung vaping is less harsh on the throat for users who prefer a higher ratio of PG to VG in their vape juice. PG (propylene glycol) is the ingredient in vape juices that gives a “throat hit”, but it can cause your throat to dry out.
What is direct to lung vaping?
Direct-to-lung vaping involves inhaling e-cigarette vapour directly into the lungs, without holding it in your mouth first. DTL vaping is more intense, as users inhale far more vapour than they do through MTL vaping.
DTL vaping, for many, can feel harsh on the throat. Vapers may choose DTL vaping for the purpose of cloud-chasing.
Not all e-cigarettes are suitable for DTL vaping, as this inhalation method requires a greater airflow to cool the vapour down before it reaches the lungs. Some e-cigarette models such as box mods are designed to draw more air over the coil, meaning they are better suited to DTL vaping.
DTL Vs MTL vaping – which is the closest to smoking?
Between direct-to-lung and mouth-to-lung vaping, MTL vaping is the closest in experience to smoking cigarettes due to the nature of the vaping experience. With MTL vaping you take the vapour into your mouth first, before inhaling it into the lungs. However, as both methods use e-liquid, some users find that the nicotine delivery that results is different to that which they are used to.
Heated tobacco is another alternative to smoking and differs in its nicotine delivery to vaping devices in that the nicotine is naturally occurring in the tobacco which is heated. In so doing, clinical studies show IQOS delivers nicotine in a manner which is similar to cigarettes.*
Important Information: IQOS is not risk free. It delivers nicotine, which is addictive.
You can find out more about IQOS and Heated Tobacco here.
*Source: 3 month clinical studies conducted in US and Japan with 160 adult smokers each under real conditions (ambulatory).
