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Hollywoodaction · Joined: 02 Jul 2004

There was a lady on that plastic surgery/make-over show that had the nastiest teeth and gums I've ever seen. Her daughter wanted her mother to get a make-over because she was clean after having abused drugs for many years and looked 20 years older than she really was. There was no mention of what drugs she used, but upon seeing her teeth and gums, it becomes obvious she was on meth.All of what's was left of her teeth were pulled out by the plastic dental surgeon.

[quote "NY Times"] "The drug itself, a synthetic stimulant that can be manufactured just about anywhere, causes dry mouth, Dr. Shaner said, and that in turn allows decay to start, since saliva is unavailable to help control bacteria in the mouth. The drug also tends to leave users thirsty and craving a constant supply of soda pop and other sugary drinks, which spur the decay; Mountain Dew, he said, has become the preferred drink of methamphetamine users. At the same time, the drug's highly addictive nature causes many users simply to stop doing what is needed to take care of themselves, including the brushing of teeth.

Other dentists said they suspected that the caustic ingredients of the drug - whether smoked, injected, snorted or eaten - contributed to the damage, which tends to start near the gums and wander to the edges of teeth. Among ingredients that can be used to make meth are red phosphorus found in the strips on boxes of matches and lithium from car batteries.

There are also dentists who point to methamphetamine users' tendency to grind and clench their teeth nervously, aggravating the frighteningly twisted and tangled look of meth mouth." [/quote]

There's a pic of 'meth mouth' if you're curious about what it looks like. Warning to the squeemish, it's pretty gruesome.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/11/national/11meth.html