Methamphetamine use and oral health

Objectives: To study the relationship between methamphetamine use and oral health. Methods: Data were collected from a systematically selected sample of 174 newly admitted prisoners in Iowa in 1998. Data on oral health were based on clinical examinations. Data on remaining variables were based on responses to oral interviews. Multivariate analysis was based on linear regression using best fit models, which were the models reflecting interaction effects. Results: The subjects had a mean of 6.9 decayed teeth (SD=5.8; median=6.0), a mean of 17.5 decayed surfaces (SD=17.4; median=14.0) and a mean of 4.2 missing teeth (SD=4.3; median=3.0). Over half of the sample (n=95, 54.6%) had used methamphetamine at some point in their life. Bivariate analysis showed that one or more of the oral health outcomes was significantly related to use of methamphetamine, sex, age, race, professional care, frequency of brushing, and sugar intake. Further, use of methamphetamine was significantly associated with use of heroin, cocaine, marijuana and tobacco, race, sex, pop consumption and professional care. When controlling for confounding variables via multiple regression, methamphetamine use remained significantly related to missing teeth( p 0.02; R square =0.400) but was no longer significantly related to decayed teeth (p 0.77; R square=0.21) or decayed surfaces (p 0.72; R square = 0.23). Conclusions: The common perception that use of methamphetamine is strongly associated with decay must be revised to reflect that the strength of the association is not significant when considered in the context of other variables known to influence decay.