Stimulants Meth & Teeth

[CarryBagMan]

Hi there...

One can hear in the conventional wisdom of crowds or media propaganda or amongst user friends that methamphetamine has a deleterious effect on one's teeth:

Now...

1. Do you think this is the case because your average meth user is likely not as astute with their oral hygiene plus a propensity for eating sugary treats added to the dry mouth and lack of saliva that often accompanies meth use ???

2. Or do you think that YES meth does damage to the teeth REGARDLESS of how anal you are with your oral hygiene upkeep ??

3. OR is the entire meth use = shitty teeth issue all media propaganda and urban legend meant to sway newbs from ever trying it. Yet another Just Say No to Drugs scare tactic ???

Thank you for reporting your opinions and real life experiences if you have time...

 

[Phobos]

Meth will dry the fuck out of your mouth which is bad for oral hygiene.
If you chew it or keep it in your mouth in any way that's also bad because it is a potent vasoconstrictor and you don't want to restrict your teeth and gum's blood supply every time you take meth.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

Engine cleaner, solvents and acids that are used to manufacture meth . Can't be too good on the enamel.

If you smoke it I would imagine it will wear off the enamel rather quickly.

If people shoot their meth then their teeth will be saved but their veins will be ruined.

Plus the fact that most drug users ( not just meth users ) neglect their oral hygiene . I'm not saying they don't brush their teeth but how many users do you know that make regular dental appointments ? We need that money for other things.

Imagine pouring chemicals and solvent on your teeth everyday. It's not gonna take long before your teeth start to decay.

 

[CFC]

On stimulants in general your teeth can expect to be battered from:

• Potential chemical damage from the drugs.
• Potential bruxism/grinding of teeth
• Potential increased intake of sugary things/acids that erode enamel.
• Potential reduced oral hygiene/brushing/flossing
• Potential elevated saliva pH
• Lack of saliva to replenish enamel and raise pH.

Resolving either in isolation won't necessarily save you, and damage is often inevitable once you reach a certain level of stim usage.

 

[CarryBagMan]

On stimulants in general your teeth can expect to be battered from:

• Potential chemical damage from the drugs.
• Potential bruxism/grinding of teeth
• Potential increased intake of sugary things/acids that erode enamel.
• Potential reduced oral hygiene/brushing/flossing
• Potential elevated saliva pH
• Lack of saliva to replenish enamel and raise pH.

Neither alone will necessarily save you, and damage is often inevitable once you reach a certain level of stim usage.

How much usage and for how long of a period of time do you think it takes for the damage to be problematic?? Would you think one ROA over another would be less detrimental to the health of the teeth?? Appreciate your time and everyone's helpfulness

 

[deficiT]

How much usage and for how long of a period of time do you think it takes for the damage to be problematic?? Would you think one ROA over another would be less detrimental to the health of the teeth?? Appreciate your time and everyone's helpfulness

I don't think it's a one size fits all in how long it takes. But I do believe smoking it is the worst, as you tend to go through more quantity of it and it dries your mouth out a bunch. That isn't to say it won't happen by other ROAs, but it's usually smoking that's worse from what I understand. Probably straight orally would be least likely to damage the teeth, but I'm sure it can happen, due to bruxism mostly I believe, and dehydration.

 

[Keif' Richards]

It's now, not surprisingly, supposed to be a combination of several different factors.

Dry Mouth
Tooth Grinding
Inability/lack of desire to keep up with oral hygiene
Craving for sugary drinks as a result of undernourishment

That answer has pretty much satisfied me for what causes "Meth Mouth". I think it makes a lot of sense. I'm believe a lot less in the angle of some specific chemical aspect of the drug that directly rots teeth, but I'm sure it's possible.

 

[Eligiu]

I actually have spectacular dental health for someone who has abused meth for a decent period of time as an IV user, neglected their dental hygiene while using for sure, didn't visit the dentist in over 10 years due to not being able to afford it, and hates simply brushing their teeth as it's a sensory issue for my autism in a bad way.

And I also take Dexamphetamine and sublocade, so my teeth should be toast.

Last two checkups over 9 months though I've been all clear for fillings. A slight bit of minor gum disease but nothing flossing can't fix.

I do use a moisturising mouth spray called biotene every morning and night though and I am admittedly a periodic user.

I have friends whose teeth went to shit faster than mine. Guess I got lucky.

 

[Pawaini]

In my experience, after 4 years smoking, it hurts when I let my self to be sober, because while using isn’t noticeable, it hurts with ice cream or frapuccinos, and also with chewy caramel sweets. I ruined 2 pieces, and have few caries , dentist made me a guard that I’m using 24/7 because im still smoking.

 

[woyzeck]

Pre 2010 - possibly a little earlier - definitely, back then I was strictly a weekend campaigner, so came away unscathed,
but remember after a big weekend my teeth would really ache, Ive not had that since 2010.
These days Id suggest its people whose hygiene priorities are subverted by meth addiction.

 

[AbbeyLee]

Oh meth fucks your teeth alright.

Lucky mine are already fucked and I'm just waiting for the $ to get the lot replaced, hey?

 

[Specified]

If you smoke vaporise it hold the pipe behind your teeth. I learnt this trick on bluelight

 

[somewherend]

Hi there...

One can hear in the conventional wisdom of crowds or media propaganda or amongst user friends that methamphetamine has a deleterious effect on one's teeth:

Now...

1. Do you think this is the case because your average meth user is likely not as astute with their oral hygiene plus a propensity for eating sugary treats added to the dry mouth and lack of saliva that often accompanies meth use ???

2. Or do you think that YES meth does damage to the teeth REGARDLESS of how anal you are with your oral hygiene upkeep ??

3. OR is the entire meth use = shitty teeth issue all media propaganda and urban legend meant to sway newbs from ever trying it. Yet another Just Say No to Drugs scare tactic ???

Thank you for reporting your opinions and real life experiences if you have time...

It's like it's melting them. .I can feel it right now. In a matter of 2 hours they all feel like they are going to fall out. I'm about to start bawling. .

 

[cokeahontas]

It’s #2. It spreads like a fungus- even after you quit using- and causes a unique rot that dentists recognize. Mine told me. My teeth started to erode at the gum line within 1 month of using- only lines. Only ever lines. It never stopped. When my teeth fell out or broke off, I saw that the pulps had all turned dark brown /black and become soft and gummy. God it was disgusting The teeth that didn’t break off or fall out eventually turned entirely black from the inside out. Yes, I brushed my teeth daily. I didn’t pick up smoking for years after starting use and it remained my least favorite ROA. i preferred lines, boofs, capsules. Never had dental problems until i touched meth. Finally got dentures a few years back. I told my surgeon and dentist what it was from and was open about it, so they also shared with me what they knew. It spreads and doesn’t stop even when you’re sober, and it starts in the back teeth and moves to the front teeth last.

Might have a picture, actually. Lemme look.

EDIT: Yep

ETA This took around 6-7 years after first time using. I had many long term chunks of sobriety intermingled.

 

[G_Chem]

It’s #2. It spreads like a fungus- even after you quit using- and causes a unique rot that dentists recognize. Mine told me. My teeth started to erode at the gum line within 1 month of using- only lines. Only ever lines. It never stopped. When my teeth fell out or broke off, I saw that the pulps had all turned dark brown /black and become soft and gummy. God it was disgusting The teeth that didn’t break off or fall out eventually turned entirely black from the inside out. Yes, I brushed my teeth daily. I didn’t pick up smoking for years after starting use and it remained my least favorite ROA. i preferred lines, boofs, capsules. Never had dental problems until i touched meth. Finally got dentures a few years back. I told my surgeon and dentist what it was from and was open about it, so they also shared with me what they knew. It spreads and doesn’t stop even when you’re sober, and it starts in the back teeth and moves to the front teeth last.

Might have a picture, actually. Lemme look.





ETA This took around 6-7 years after first time using. I had many long term chunks of sobriety intermingled.

I’ve honestly never heard of this before but the picture don’t lie. Really appreciate you sharing that. That sounds so fucking scary.

How much and often did you use? Have you seen others who also lost teeth in a similar manner?

-GC

 

[cokeahontas]

w

I’ve honestly never heard of this before but the picture don’t lie. Really appreciate you sharing that. That sounds so fucking scary.

How much and often did you use? Have you seen others who also lost teeth in a similar manner?

-GC

Yes, knew a decent number of people also aware of this, and a decent number of people with identical rot. I was warned about it initially by an older user who had used since the 90s, but u ignored him until it happened to me, of course. lmao. There also seems to be a genetic factor- if your teeth don’t start rotting within a couple months of using, you’re probably good.

My first 6 months of using was exclusively up my nose, daily- maybe with 1-2 days off mixed in- and dose really really varied… anywhere from like a third of a quarter gram a day up to 0.50 probably. At that time. Started rot at the gum line of almost all my molars within 1-2 months of daily lines.

I stuck to lines only for around the next 3 years, and the rot continued. (I had like 2 periods of maybe 6 month sobriety during that time.) Still no rot visible from the front though. like a normal smile looked fine, couldn’t see it there yet. But a couple molars were turning black, crumbling off.

Then my usage got heavier, both in dose and frequency, plus I began smoking. The rot made it to the front at this point, and I stopped smiling with teeth

My final year of use was heaviest. i smoked, did lines, ate capsules, and boofed regularly, usually a gram a day give or take, shitty days notwithstanding. The last few months of that, my teeth appeared as pictured. Front teeth were all loose, wiggly. I couldn’t eat chips, raw vegetables, most crackers, chewy candy, hard candy, etc etc bc there was too much exposed gum between eroding teeth, exposed roots, exposed pulp; because the teeth would break off immediately from the force of something crunchy, and because food would get stuck up in between teeth and inside spaces and i’d be unsuccessful at getting it out for grossly long periods of time.

I lost a front tooth in a bite of jellybeans, once.

Another in a bite of hotdog.

 

[CFC]

I've chipped my teeth via jaw clenching/bruxism but fortunately not experienced anything else. My teeth seem to be unusually resilient. Your experiences certainly make for a sobering read though @cokeahontas !

 

[Jabberwocky]

Hi there...

One can hear in the conventional wisdom of crowds or media propaganda or amongst user friends that methamphetamine has a deleterious effect on one's teeth:

Now...

1. Do you think this is the case because your average meth user is likely not as astute with their oral hygiene plus a propensity for eating sugary treats added to the dry mouth and lack of saliva that often accompanies meth use ???

2. Or do you think that YES meth does damage to the teeth REGARDLESS of how anal you are with your oral hygiene upkeep ??

3. OR is the entire meth use = shitty teeth issue all media propaganda and urban legend meant to sway newbs from ever trying it. Yet another Just Say No to Drugs scare tactic ???

Thank you for reporting your opinions and real life experiences if you have time...

Dry mouth and bad oral hygiene.

It's obvious that in IV users and rectal administrators MA would have no direct action on tooth enamel.

The lack of saliva, poor diet, and poor oral hygiene is what causes bad teeth.

That being said, users who smoke high amounts or people that hold MA in their mouths for sublingual or oral can have tooth damage due to the hydrochloric acid eating tooth enamel.

If you want to see how caustic a piece of ice is hold it behind your bottom teeth, you won't have any tartar left. I guarantee it, And, you will have a nice chemical burn under your tongue.

 

[Jabberwocky]

The chemicals in math don't get to the gums in any appreciable manner.

Regardless of your one anecdotal patient, the literature is unclear.

Most believe lack of saliva, malnutrition which results in loss of phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium (and concomitant poor remodeling of teeth) , and poor oral hygiene are the causes of dental caries.

As I stated before, direct action of methamphetamine is not the cause of dental caries.

In fact, even in the literature, it is very hard to attach dry mouth or methamphetamine abuse to dental caries.

Etiology of xerostomia and dental caries among methamphetamine abusers - PubMed

This study reviews the peripheral effects of methamphetamine on the salivary acini, the pathogenesis of methamphetamine-induced xerostomia, and its anecdotal relationship to dental caries. Methamphetamine is a sympathomimetic central stimulant which is abused for its euphoric effects. Its...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"A direct association between methamphetamine abuse and the occurrence of rampant caries was not clear."

So science says that there's no direct association. And there are tens of thousands of methamphetamine abusers that don't have cavities.

It is more likely that dry mouth, loss of enamel due to low phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium, as well as poor oral hygiene, and potentially sexually transmitted diseases in the oral cavity are the causative factors of dental caries in some methamphetamine abusers.

It's not as widespread as everybody is led to believe. I personally know long-term methamphetamine abusers that smoke, eat, rectally, administer, and IV administer methamphetamine and have for years, that have teeth you would put on a commercial in a good way.

Oh by the way, thank you for posting a source that identifies that two out of three of the causes are dry mouth and poor oral hygiene, not methamphetamine abuse.

Vasoconstriction is actually questionable because multiple other chemicals cause vasoconstriction and not dental caries. Like cocaine. We don't see rampant carries in. People prescribed Adderall and Vyvanse which are both vasoconstrictive and are taken on a daily basis.

We do however see dental caries in cases of malnutrition and poor dental hygiene. Malnutrition and poor dental hygiene are hallmarks of methamphetamine abuse and are separated from people prescribed drugs that also cause Vasoconstriction.