What exactly about meth ruins teeth?

Question

Is it just people on meth tend to neglect dental care and don’t floss/brush? Or is there actually a chemical in meth that causes your teeth to go bad?

In: 73

Answer 1

Dentist here. Probably mostly the former, but there are some indirect ways in which the pharmacological effects of meth contribute to tooth decay. In no particular order, here are the ways in which meth is thought to mess with your teeth:

1) Decrease in salivary pH and buffering capacity (ability to neutralize acids from the stuff you eat and drink).

2) Bruxism – meth seems to stimulate clenching and grinding activity, which can wear away enamel and expose dentin. Dentin is even more vulnerable to acid erosion than enamel.

3) Poor hygiene – this isn’t particular to meth; many drug addicts seem to let everyday tasks like hygiene (along with pretty much every other facet of their lives) slip by the wayside.

4) Junk food diet – frequent snacking with high caloric density/sugary foods and soda (as opposed to 3 discrete meals per day) drastically increases the amount of time in the day one’s teeth are exposed to an acidic environment, which in turn dissolves enamel and dentin.

5) Reduced salivary flow rate/dry mouth or “xerostomia” – again, saliva protects your teeth by acting as a pH buffer against environmental acids and through the presence of salivary antibodies and other immune components that keep oral bacterial/fungal populations in check. It’s unclear whether this is a direct pharmacologic effect of methamphetamines or whether it’s a secondary effect of dehydration.

There’s a lot of misinformation you’ll hear people spouting about how toxic meth is as evidenced by the way it eats away at your teeth and your skin, but that’s all just chemophobia. Theoretically, a meth addict could keep excellent dental health by maintaining good oral hygiene habits, drinking water frequently, avoiding junk food, and wearing an occlusal splint (to protect the teeth from being worn down by the grinding). Of course, what meth addict is really going to do all of that?