Smoking meth WILL have a negative effect on your teeth.
*sigh*
here we go again...
Can you possibly show me a reliable study or some type of proof that "smoking meth WILL have a negative effect on your teeth?" I have smoked meth for years, every day, multiple times a day, and I have perfect pearly whites and never had a cavity. I also have a good handfull of friends who also use, and as far as the eye can see, there's no missing teeth or rotting or foul breath, etc. The whole "dental decay" aspect of the media coverage on meth is mostly hype and a sort of urban legend - it places an absurd emphasis on a relatively minor aspect of the damage meth can do to a person, because it evokes feelings of revulsion in the general population. Sure, if that's what they think it takes to get people to not use meth, than so be it. But it irritates me that there are "responsible" users who actually take the time to brush their teeth and have "normal" hygiene habits and we don't all look like toothless ogres who live under a bridge.
Nowhere, under any information (that is reliable and from a respectable doctor/college/research institute etc.) do I see listed under side effects for methamphetamine - rotting teeth, tooth decay, tooth loss - NONE of the above are listed. The only side effect listed that has to do with the mouth is bruxism (jaw clenching/teeth grinding) and dry mouth. Yes, I do agree that the two afformentioned oral side effects can most definitely lead to one having cavities or tooth loss, but dry mouth and bruxism do not equal worse oral problems indefinitely.
Most of the population has gingivitis....not just us dirty methheads.
Drug addicts suffer from poor health in general. Constant use of hard drugs can take a heavy toll on a person's body from head to toe, weather it's heroin or crack or cocaine, methamphetamine, or alcohol. Meth users place a tremendous strain on their body. They are often awake for days at a time. They are often eating very little/nothing and so they are getting minimal nutrition. As a stimulant, meth can raise the heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature to dangerous levels. Chronic sleep deprivation can massively weaken a person's immune system, making them far more susceptible to illness and disease. So yeah - would I say that it is probably more
LIKELY that one will have negative issues with their teeth if they are using methamphetamine for a long period of time, if they don't use personal responsiblilty by performing daily hygiene procedures. But it's not right to say that
methamphetamine itself causes tooth loss/decay/etc.
Drug addicts often tend to ignore their personal hygiene and appearance. *Some* addicts focus in life is the addiction - and between getting high and working out a plan to stay high and plotting ways to get even higher in the near future...who has time for friends or family or laundry or showering or brushing your teeth? I believe that it is personal poor hygiene practices that leads to what everyone deems as "meth mouth."
Go and take a look at the teeth of some crackheads, heroin junkies, and alcoholics...you don't see any commercials for "Crack mouth" or "booze teeth..." End of story.
I can't say for certain if the acidity of meth can contribute to tooth decay or erode the enamel on them, but it doesn't seem too unreasonable an assumption, however I can't find any proof of it. I'm sure if you rubbed shards all over your mouth and teeth everyday, it would be likely that you'd experience a loss of tooth enamel...
Even with all the brushing, smoking meth almost every day for 1½ months is toxic for your teeth...
You obviously enjoy the drug, so why not take it orally?
If you use this ROA and practise good dental hygiene (which I'm sure your orthodontist has explained to you, and as you said in your post), then there will be far less damage (if any) to your teeth.
The idea that "contaminents" in meth are somehow to blame is pretty laughable. I hate to break it to everyone out there, but the ingredients for meth that are so poisonous and toxic really aren't all that exotic or out of the ordinary from a chemistry standpoint. Those grocery lists you read about - saying that meth is made from "gun cleaner, fertilizer, household chemicals, and cold medicine, rat popison blah blah blah" - that's a distortion that serves the media and gov't's agenda to make meth sound really really scary - and the average journalist or citizen doesn't know anything about chemistry so this confusion persists. The manufacture of meth usually involves taking ephedrine or psuedo-ephedrine (active ingredient in most cold medicine) and through a series of chemical reactions you "reduce" it on a molecular level to methamphetamine. This is relatively easy because they have a very similar structure to each other, a difference of like one alpha-hydroxy group. It's harder for most people to figure out than is popularly portrayed. It's not "cooking" like throwing a frozen pizza in the oven, specialized knowledge is required. There is no room for imprecision ... but it's not too tough either, all things considered. Anyone who was properly motivated and had at least an average capacity for learning could accomplish it, but the legal risks, the hassle to obtain the precursors, and people's basic laziness and disinclination towards intellectual activities dissuade them from trying.
There are a number of toxic or poisonous chemicals used in the manufacture of meth. There are also a number of toxic or poisonous chemicals used to synthesize all of the drugs your doctor prescribes you and in all kinds of common consumer products you live with every day and so on. You wouldn't want to swallow any of it straight or breathe some laboratory fumes, but if the process is carried out correctly the final product won't bear any appreciable resemblence to those deadly chemicals that were used to facilitate its creation. They're removed or destroyed or transformed into something else.
Most street drugs aren't "pharm grade", they typically have some impurities, still usually not a big deal. And when "cut" is added by dealers to increase their profits it is usually something totally harmless but cosmetically similar. There is definite potential here for some type of cut to be put in street methamphetamine that could have an additional negative effect on one's mouth - but I doubt it, and don't know for sure.
I'm not condoning the use of meth, I'm just giving you the info you need for harm reduction .
telling somebody that oral use of meth as opposed to vaporization will somehow save their teeth - I wouldn't consider that harm reduction. Personal experience maybe...but not HR.
