Meth Mouth

is a term I used here earlier that gets a lot of use, everyone kind of understands what it is but, may not know exactly why.

• Chronic Methamphetamine users often have a fairly distinctive type of oral disease- the following are some of the causes: 1) As a person devolves into a dependent state they care less and take less care of everything. 2) The drug cause chronic grinding of the teeth and jaw clenching which destroys the protective enamel forming tiny cracks throughout. I think this leads to the distinctive decay as much as anything. 3) They don't eat well. 4) The drug causes less saliva to form which impairs blood flow to gums causing gingivitis and other diseases. 5) Interestingly, studies and anecdotal evidence have suggested that chronic users are more likely to use sweet, carbonated drinks more often than the average person. 6) The chemicals used in meth. are very corrosive and will even burn the skin when used as directed. After a person snorts or smokes the drug it comes into the mouth and contacts the teeth causing decay. This can be demonstrated to be true by the fact IV users have less trouble with dental problems or conversely take longer to get to the same level of decay.


• Two things I've personally noted among male and female users: a female user if she blames anything besides the drug for her tooth loss and/or decay it will be the carrying and/or nursing of babies. For a male, the loss will always involve a fight against normally multiple males and being smashed in the mouth with a chair. Both of these may sound weird to take note of I know- but, I honestly cannot tell you how many times I've heard both of these stories.