Cosmetic Dentist - Meth Mouth

Scottsdale, Phoenix, and Payson, AZ.

Methamphetamine is a cheap illicit drug and is easy to make. It has several street names: Meth, Crank, Fire, Ice, Chalk, Speed, Crystal and Glass. It is highly addictive. Even though it is very destructive to a user’s health, its use is on the rise in the U.S.

Methamphetamine is a potent central nervous system stimulant that can cause shortness of breath, hyperthermia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, permanent brain damage and rampant tooth decay.

Some users describe their teeth as “blackened, stained, rotting, crumbling or falling apart.” Often the teeth cannot be salvaged and must be extracted. The extensive tooth decay is attributed to the drug’s acidic nature and its tendency to dry out the mouth tissues. Unless the person is extra attentive, there will be long periods of poor oral hygiene. While they are high, users often crave carbonated high-calorie, sugary beverages or they may grind or clench their teeth, all of which can harm teeth.

According to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 12.3 million Americans age 12 and older had tried methamphetamine at least once in their lifetimes, with the majority of past-year users between 18 and 34 years of age.

Benefits of Saliva

Meth reduces the activity of the salivary glands. We need plenty of saliva and typically a person produces about a liter of it each day. It helps protect the teeth from decay because it buffers acid in the mouth – makes it more alkaline.

That reduces the potential harm from acidic foods like citrus fruit, from acid bacterial excretions, and from any acid from the digestive system (as in acid reflux disease, for example).

Tooth Decay From Reduced Saliva

Reduced saliva can allow bacteria to multiply their numbers by ten times their normal rate. Bacteria and their excretions are known as plaque and plaque is acidic. Acidic substances in the mouth burn into tooth enamel, slowly destroying it. This is what tooth decay is. The enamel thins out unevenly and thin spots eventually deepen to the point of being cavities.

Meth users often try to treat their “cotton mouth” by drinking bottles of sugary soda. This provides more food for bacteria on their teeth. More food allows the bacteria to thrive and multiply, leaving more acid excretions on the gums and teeth. Meth users are less likely than others to floss, brush, or use an antibacterial rinse.

• Typically, cavities begin between two teeth where no toothbrush can reach. They deepen into the teeth and eventually destroy them from the interior outwards.
• Meth-related cavities start at the gumline and spread around the base of a tooth.

Fractured Teeth

Since meth will often make the user feel anxious or worried, tooth clenching often develops, or tooth grinding. In a regular meth user this can cause cracks in the tooth enamel. Bacteria then enter the tooth through the cracks and the tooth quickly weakens.

Reduced Blood Flow

Each tooth is nourished through its root by small arteries and veins that bring oxygen and nutrients and carry away waste products. Meth causes these blood vessels to shrink, which reduces blood flow to the tooth. As meth is used more often, tooth tissues begin to break down from toxic build-up and lack of nourishment. Eventually the blood vessels fail to expand again in between occasions of meth use, and then the tooth dies.

Chemicals in Meth and How They Affect the Teeth

Lithium, muriatic and sulfuric acids, ether, red phosphorus and lye – key ingredients in Meth manufacturing – are all corrosive and will cause skin burns even when used properly.

• When a person smokes Meth, these substances are heated, vaporized and swirl throughout the user's mouth. They irritate and burn the sensitive skin inside the mouth, create sores and lead to infection. Chronic Meth smokers have teeth rotted to the gum line from the continuous effect of the vapors on tooth enamel.
• Snorting Meth also causes chemical damage to teeth. Snorting draws the caustic substances down the nasal passages, draining in the back of the throat and bathing the teeth with corrosive substances.
• Injecting Meth has no direct impact on dental health, but as you will see, habitual use of the drug does have side effects that do lead to damage.

Do all Meth Users Get Meth Mouth?

No, not all meth users get meth mouth, since it's brought on more by personal hygiene than the actual drug itself. If a meth user can still remember to brush his or her teeth and refrain from drinking sugary beverages, the risk of getting meth mouth will decrease. However, chronic meth use can cause dry mouth (xerostomia), which significantly increases the risk of dental decay, enamel erosion and periodontal disease.

Can Dental Treatments Cure Meth Mouth?

This can be done but the number of treatments will vary. In some cases, the teeth can be easily restored. The problem is that many meth users delay seeing a dentist until their teeth are so severely decayed that nothing can save them. Then the only choice is to have dentures or partial dentures. Meth mouth is a tooth-destroyer, especially for young users.

Typical Treatments for Meth Mouth

If you have the characteristic dental problems of meth mouth, you will need to come frequently for professional tooth cleaning. We will closely monitor your dental health and give you fluoride treatments to help slow down the tooth decay.

If some of your teeth can be restored, we will do that with an most appropriate method, such as:

• Dental Crowns – to enclose each tooth and provide new surfaces
• Porcelain inlays or onlays – to fill cavities of different sizes and hold the tooth together strongly
• Tooth-colored fillings – bonded to the tooth to strengthen it

In all these procedures we will be working to maintain your smile’s attractiveness

The teeth that cannot be saved will have to be extracted and replaced with artificial teeth. That can take the form of bridges or dentures, either of which can be anchored by dental implants.

Periodontal disease, if evident, will require treatment. Extractions may or may not be needed for this. Combinations of crowns (porcelain, composite, PFM), veneer laminates, individual tooth buildups, dental implants, bone grafts, gingival grafts, custom bridgework, and dentures or partials can be used creatively to recreate bite function and acceptable aesthetics that have been missing.

If you have been a meth user and are suffering from dental deterioration and pain, please contact our restorative dentistry office. We will be glad to set up a personal consultation for you and begin to assess your dental health.