METH DESTROYING TEETH OF PRISONERS, CAUSING DENTAL BUDGET TO SOAR

LAS VEGAS -- Methamphetamine use can turn a healthy set of teeth into
a rotting mess and its widespread use is causing a surge in the
dental budget of Nevada's prison system.

The oral effects of methamphetamine, an addictive drug commonly made
with household products or over-the-counter medicines, are so
devastating and so unique that the condition is now known in medical
circles as meth mouth.

"The mouths of the addicts we see in prison often aren't pretty,"
said Dr. Jeff Lissy, the state's top dentist in the correctional
system. "Many of the inmates didn't take care of their teeth before
they started meth, so use of the drug is just one more assault on
their dental care."

Gov. Jim Gibbons has called the fight against methamphetamine
addiction "the colossal struggle of our times."

The funding he has proposed goes largely to law enforcement and
rehabilitation programs. None of the money he has proposed toward
fighting the drug is slated to go toward treating meth mouth in
inmates, though the problem appears to be getting worse.

Nevada's prison population has increased 19 percent to 12,500 inmates
from 10,500 four years ago. But over the same time, the dental budget
has 62 percent to $2.1 million, up from $1.3 million.

The cause of the meth mouth is simple: Use of the drug inhibits
saliva production, which exposes teeth to bacteria that cause cavities.

In self-treating their "dry mouth," addicts drink sugared sodas --
Mountain Dew, according to dentists, is the preferred drink -- which
spurs decay. The highly addictive nature of methamphetamine causes
many users to halt most hygienic practices, including brushing their teeth.

Because meth makes users feel anxious or nervous, they regularly
clench and grind their teeth, which often leads to cracks in the
enamel. When the drug causes vessels that supply blood to oral
tissues to shrink up, the tissues die, a sure path to the worst kind
of gum disease.

Dentist Melinda Anderson remembers the first time she saw meth mouth vividly.

Six years ago, she was a 25-year-old dental student at Loma Linda
University in California, and a 20-year-old man came into the
university believing he might have chipped a tooth.

"He might just as well have been sucking on radioactive materials,"
she said. "What had been done to his mouth was that toxic. I couldn't
believe what I was seeing."

Anderson recalled that most of the teeth on the right side of the
patient's mouth were broken off at the gumline. His gums were
pus-streaked. Teeth that remained were twisted and either black stubs
or a strange grayish-brown. And they had a bizarre texture that was
more like ripened fruit than hard enamel.

"I was so confused by what I was seeing that I immediately went to an
instructor," she said. "I couldn't believe someone so young literally
had to get what remaining teeth he had extracted. When I described
what I found ... the instructor simply said, 'Oh, he has to be a
methamphetamine user.' "

Anderson works on meth mouth patients at On Site Dental mobile clinic
parked behind Paris Las Vegas on a pro bono basis.

Anderson said she wants "to help people with this addiction, but you
don't feel like you're doing that much with extractions."

"There's not much we can do until we get them off this stuff, until
we show people that it's foolish to even try it.

"It's going to take all of us in the community to work and solve this
meth problem," she said. "Almost all of us know someone who has been
involved with this. From the way I see people needing help with their
teeth, I'm not sure we've seen the worst of this yet."

Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal