METHMOUTH: METHAMPHETAMINE IS MAKING STATE PRISON SYSTEM PAY MILLIONS

RALEIGH (AP) -- A condition called "meth mouth" is starting to have
expensive repercussions for North Carolina taxpayers.

The dental condition, found among methamphetamine addicts, results from the
drug's tendency to dry out saliva, which defends teeth against rotting.
Teeth that don't fall out must be yanked out.

"It's a bombed-out mouth," said Dr. Norman Grantham, a Johnston County
dentist who treats inmates at Central Prison's dental clinic. "You look
inside, and all you see are stubs and spaces."

As more meth users are convicted, prisons and local jails are paying the
cost of meth mouth. State Department of Correction officials said it's only
a matter of time before the cost of treating prisoners with meth mouth
blows their $6.5 million annual dental budget.

In Sampson County, the sheriff's department has already overshot its
$15,000 dental budget treating about five meth mouths a month, said Capt.
Kemely Pickett, jail administrator.

Methamphetamine, a toxic stimulant made in home labs from items commonly
found in medicine cabinets and garages, has spread across the United States
over the last 10-plus years.

Now, it is on the rise in North Carolina, where law-enforcement officers
broke up 322 labs last year and expect to hit 500 to 700 this year.

The Department of Correction is getting ready. Dr. James Clare, assistant
dental chief for the department, plans a training session on meth mouth
next month for its 120-member dental staff.

This spring, correction officials also plan to start documenting signs of
meth mouth among prisoners entering the system.

Dental experts have done little research to explain the process of tooth
decay in people who use meth. But dentists in the North Carolina prison
system have their theories.

Meth's base ingredient, cold medicine, dries out the mouth. So there's
little saliva to protect teeth enamel from acidic substances and bacteria,
Clare said.

When users get high, they crave sugary, caffeinated sodas, which hasten
tooth decay.

Then there are grinding and gnashing; users are often anxious and paranoid.
That alone can destroy a healthy tooth, Clare said.

Meth's other ingredients - chemicals such as brake cleaner and lithium from
batteries - slow the flow of blood in the tooth, weakening the center.

"It's almost like it's attacking the tooth from within," Grantham said. "By
the time we see them, the tooth has pretty much collapsed."