If you or someone you love is suffering from drug abuse, dependency or addiction, please call us today. Many dentists can help the body repair the damage, reducing long-term risk for gum disease and tooth loss.
The human body begins to heal the moment the substance abuse stops, so it is never too late to start a sober lifestyle. Addiction Treatment Can Save Your Teethĭrug abuse and addiction are treatable and many people live healthy sober lives after rehab. With this particular type of drug use, taking vitamin C and calcium pills alone will provide little or no help as the body needs a balanced diet in order for these supplements to be absorbed and work efficiently. Like cocaine, methamphetamine is an appetite suppressor, starving the body in more ways than one, both in substance and sustenance.
Methamphetamine addiction can cause those who use it to stay awake for days at a time without eating, which augments the process of tooth decay. Unlike cocaine, meth is composed of numerous chemicals that not only affect dopamine secretion these chemicals are also capable of stripping tooth enamel, or the tooth’s protective layer, in a matter of weeks. The negative effects of smoking methamphetamine bear the same consequences in your mouth as cocaine addiction and other drug abuse, yet with an extra added twist. According to some sources, the symptoms can appear in as little as a month.
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Using crack cocaine produces the same impact, only faster. Tooth loss is also a common occurrence, and it only takes a few months of use to reach the point where teeth are so badly damaged that they fall out or need to be removed.Ībscesses on the gums can also form a primary indicator of deeper infection.
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Gingivitis is likely to appear as the first condition in a series of oral problems, such as bone loss and tooth decay. Because healthy teeth and gums thrive on these two vitamins and minerals, which are stripped by the cocaine and then not replaced because the individual has no appetite, the impact of drug abuse on the mouth is twofold. A healthy human body needs a number of nutrients to run efficiently ingesting powder cocaine on a daily basis will strip the body of its essentials, such as vitamin C and calcium.Ĭocaine can also suppress the appetite. Whether snorting cocaine in its powder form or smoking the substance, the chemicals in cocaine can wreak havoc on the system, and it all starts inside the mouth. Abusing either of these two substances can turn an otherwise healthy mouth into a cavity of disastrous proportions. The use of two highly addictive substances, cocaine and methamphetamine, can lead to the type of drug abuse side effects that dentists often identify and subsequently refer to as meth-mouth or cocaine teeth/canines. While each drug has a different impact on the body, including the teeth, there are two types of drugs in particular that cause quick and significant damage to your mouth and teeth. Drug abuse begins impacting your body after just a short period of time.