Your Dentist Could Be Your First Line of Defense Against Drug Abuse

                                                                                         

Where do you start when you suspect someone you care about is taking drugs? In the case of methamphetamine, your first stop might be a trip to the dentist’s office. Although ‘meth mouth’ isn’t the only indicator that someone’s using the drug, it may be one of the fist and most obvious, and the dentist may be your first line of defense against methamphetamine addiction. In fact, he may help people get into an addiction treatment center early enough to save them from ruining or losing their lives.


According to the California Dental Hygienists' Association (CDHA), which estimates there are about 12 million meth users in the U.S., hygienists are trained to look for signs of meth use such as teeth grinding (if you’re not aware you grind your teeth at night, your dentist and hygienist can certainly see the effects) and general deterioration of the teeth.


What kind of people are using methamphetamine? If you have the idea that they couldn’t possibly be any of the people you know, then you’re not alone: the CDHA says one of the biggest reasons why meth has become such a problem is that those close to them don’t believe they could be taking it. But meth is used by people from all walks of life, from professionals to teenagers and children, rich, poor, educated or uneducated. It can happen to anyone.


Just as the eyes are considered the ‘windows to the soul,’ the state of our teeth and gums offer insight into the rest of the body. ‘Meth mouth’ is one of the symptoms and side effects of methamphetamine use, but deterioration of our teeth and gums is a sign that the same thing is going on with our internal organs, bones, central nervous system, circulatory system, and so on.


Other symptoms can include writhing or jerking movements, nervousness, irritability, insomnia, confusion, anxiety, aggression and convulsions. It can also raise the temperature to as high as 108 degrees – enough to kill you all by itself.


It also raises blood pressure and heart rate, which can also kill you, and can cause irreversible damage to the blood vessels in the brain.


The skin is also one of the first places you can actually see the deterioration. Sores are acne are not uncommon and the internal problems going on can cause a person using meth to age 10 or 20 years in a matter of months.


And those are just a few of the effects of relatively short-term use. Long term, you can expect fatal kidney and lung disorders, brain damage, liver damage, blood clots and a compromised immune system as well as severe personality changes, including depression and violent, aggressive, psychotic behavior. In fact, the personality changes even have a name – methamphetamine psychosis - and they don’t happen to only some of the people who use the drug for a long time; they happen to everyone.


What’s the solution? Unfortunately, quitting meth isn’t easy. Don’t expect a user to do it on their own – they’ll need help physically, a lot of support from drug rehab professionals and, possibly, medical supervision. Get them into a drug addiction treatment center so they can get off it immediately. While it may not be possible to reverse all the damage done, you’ll keep them alive, and for a lot longer.

About the author:
Gloria MacTaggart is a freelance writer that contributes articles on health.


info@drugrehabreferral.com


http://www.drugrehabreferral.com


More on
drug rehab


Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com