Meth addicts getting "meth mouth" - Kinda gross topic

[astro]

Meth users suffer dental problems, "meth mouth"

MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- Jeffery Lotshaw flossed regularly. He brushed faithfully, sometimes four or five times in a day.

All that care makes his condition seem incomprehensible -- at the age of just 33, Lotshaw's grin is toothless. His teeth all broke apart, tarnished with yellow and black.

"Before I started doing meth, I didn't have a cavity in my head," said Lotshaw, imprisoned on drug charges at Missouri's Maryville Treatment Center.

The growing use of highly addictive methamphetamine throughout the country is creating a prominent scar on an increasing number of users -- rotting, brittle teeth that seem to crumble from their mouths.

Methamphetamine can be made with a horrid mix of substances, including over-the-counter cold medicine, fertilizer, battery acid and hydrogen peroxide.

Together, the chemicals reduce a user's saliva, which neutralizes acids and physically clears food from the teeth, said Dr. Eric Curtis, an Arizona-based spokesman for the Academy of General Dentistry.

"When the saliva isn't flowing, the bacteria build up a lot faster," said Dr. Darrell Morton, an Atlanta dentist.

Meth users also may neglect their teeth, or moisten their dry mouths with high-sugar drinks, and anxiety caused by the drug prompts them to grind their teeth, which speeds decay.

The problem is particularly noticeable among inmates, whose oral problems have some prison systems struggling to provide dental care.

"They're rotting teeth, missing teeth, rotting way into the gums," said Kathy Bachmeier, the head of medical services for North Dakota's prisons. "It's ugly."

[Larry Mudd]

A few years back, I hooked up with a beautiful, funny, literate, and hyperintelligent (really!) girl who had a serious meth habit.

She took good care of herself (except for all the speed, natch,) maintained a good diet, tried to keep reasonable track of sleep cycles, etc, so she never got that walking-dead tweaker look -- but...

...her mouth, dear god. Her molars were just open ruins.

She was twenty.

[norinew]

Ewwww. I think if maybe those idiots that make stupid anti-drug commercials could get some of these toothless folks to talk candidly about their teeth falling out, they might actually produce a commercial that reached someone.

Nah. It'll never happen.

[yosemite]

There was a girl I worked with for a while—she was about 24, and had this elegant beauty (think Diane Lane at age 24). Seemed like a really sweet girl. She made some allusion to people in her family having a meth habit (and perhaps her too) which they'd cleaned up.

She was the most lovely girl—could have been a model—but her teeth were these weird brittle sticks. Half-eaten away, they looked like they'd snap at any second. She rarely opened her mouth (lots of closed-mouthed smiles). It was so sad. She really needed to get dentures.

[KRC]

So my tweaker friend's recent illness wasn't Scurvy? Darn it, I made him take those vitamin pills for nothing.

Does the same thing happen to Alcoholics?

[astro]

Originally Posted by KRC

So my tweaker friend's recent illness wasn't Scurvy? Darn it, I made him take those vitamin pills for nothing.

Does the same thing happen to Alcoholics?

Not the exact same mechanism as meth damage, but yes alcoholics often have horrendous dental problems, especially gum related stuff.

See


CHRONIC ALCOHOLISM AND DENTAL PRACTICE

B. INTRA ORAL EFFECTS

Chronic alcoholics neglect themselves as they are preoccupied with their addiction and they have very poor dental hygiene.

Dental caries : Alcoholics have a high incidence of decayed missing filled teeth and also more missing teeth as compared to non-alcoholics.[21,22]

Chronic inflammatory Periodontal disease : Alcoholics have an increased rate of chronic, advanced generalized periodontitis[23] with inflamed gingivae, loss of stippling, blunting of the interdental papillae and deep pocketing with associated bone loss.[24]

Tooth wear : Increased level of tooth wear due to attrition is present in psychiatric alcoholics.[22] This is due to stimulation of the brainstem reticulo activatory system leading to masseteric muscle activity causing bruxism during rapid eye moment sleep.[9]Advanced dental erosions affecting the palatal surface of upper incisors, erosion of teeth due to chronic vomiting after regular alcoholism binges have been reported.[12],[25]

Xerostomia secondary to chronic alcoholism may lead to toothwear erosion due to reduced buffering from a smaller volume of saliva.

Intraoral carcinoma : The risk of developing oral squamous cell carcinoma is 10-15 times more in chronic alcoholics. One of the views suggest that the mucosa may be rendered more susceptible to carcinogens.[26]

[Starving Artist]

I've known several people with serious meth problems, and believe me, their dental problems were the least of their concerns.

[even sven]

I always thought they should make anti-speed ads just showing chronic users.

A lot of people- girls especially- get so much positive feedback when they start. Their rooms get clean. They start doing all their homework. And most of all they get skinny. Nobody can figure out why little Jane seems to be doing so well.

It takes a few months for it to get bad. Their teeth fall out. They get sores. They turn yellow. They look like a disease. If we could get teenage girls to understand the skinnyness will only last a couple months before they turn gross, I think it'd negate at least some of the positive feedback they get at first.