Pubdate: Fri, 05 Aug 2005
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Copyright: 2005, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:  http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135
Author: Andrew Hanon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH LEAVES A LOUSY MOUTHFUL

"But Annie kept on speeding

Her health was getting poor

She saw things in the window

She heard things at the door

Her mind was like a grinding mill

Her lips were cracked and sore

Her skin was turning yellow

I just couldn't take it no more"

- - from the song Amphetamine Annie, by Canned Heat

It's a grotesque phenomenon that more and more U.S. dentists are seeing, 
and thanks to the explosion in crystal meth use here, you can bet it's on 
its way to northern Alberta.

It's called "meth mouth," and its signatures are rotting gums and crumbling 
teeth. It's caused by prolonged use of crystal methamphetamine, a highly 
addictive form of speed that many fear is becoming the recreational drug of 
choice in Edmonton and rural Alberta.

Media reports in the U.S. suggest dentists in the Midwestern states, where 
meth use is an epidemic, are seeing an exploding number of patients in 
their 20s and 30s whose teeth are little more than blackened stumps barely 
clinging to pus-oozing gums.

One New Mexico dentist told the New York Times he had to fit a 17-year-old 
patient for a full set of dentures.

In case you've been living under a rock, crystal meth is a synthetic form 
of speed that can be manufactured out of materials bought in any hardware 
store and pharmacy. It's been around for decades, but in the past few years 
has had a resurgence in popularity across North America.

It's not only popular among street people. Police have reported seizing it 
from well-to-do kids, truckers and other shift workers trying to stay 
alert, and even supermoms trying to keep house and home together.

Its active ingredient is pseudo ephedrine, a common cold remedy.

What makes crystal meth so popular is that it's dirt cheap, a fraction of 
the cost of crack cocaine, and the high can last 10 times as long.

Drug dealers love it because it can be made completely domestically, so 
there's no risky international smuggling involved.

It's also profoundly addictive, and the side-effects of continual use 
include rapid weight loss, inability to sleep, paranoia, delusions and 
violent outbursts.

And meth mouth.

There has been very little research done into the exact causes of meth 
mouth, but the dental profession has plenty of theories.

For starters, addicts generally don't take care of themselves, and one of 
the telltale signs that someone's life is out of control is that personal 
hygiene goes out the window, including oral hygiene.

More specific to meth heads, though, is the fact that crystal meth causes a 
dry mouth, which speeds the decaying process because saliva helps control 
bacteria in the mouth.

Combine bad oral hygiene with 24-7 use of meth and you've got a biological 
weapon growing in your mouth.

Jim Myklebust, clinical supervisor at Poundmaker's Lodge Treatment Centre 
near St. Albert, adds another piece to the puzzle.

"Back in the 70s and 80s, it was well-known that speed freaks had bad, bad 
teeth," he said. "They were so wired all the time that they'd grind them 
down to nothing."

The term "meth mouth" isn't even being used yet in Canada, but it will be soon.

Poundmaker's Lodge keeps an extensive research database on its clients, and 
some of the figures the centre has compiled are nothing short of terrifying.

Of the 500 clients - mostly from Alberta - who sought treatment there in 
2002, nine per cent reported using crystal meth. Two years later, that 
figure had nearly tripled to 24%. So far in 2005, a staggering 59% of 
Poundmaker's Lodge clientele are crystal meth users.

With ominous statistics like that coming out of Alberta drug treatment 
centres, the local dental profession better get ready for a whole new kind 
of problem - meth mouth.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom