From UCLA
With all the other havoc it wreaks on its users and society, one of the more discernible and disgusting aspects of methamphetamine addiction concerns how it corrodes its junkies' teeth and dental health. And while 'meth mouth' might not seem to be the most pressing medical or legal issue associated with the estimated $23.4 billion in damages linked to this nasty, dangerous street drug, researchers in Westwood have just received a $1.86 federal grant to investigate and study what it does to oral health. Why? Well, after years of a caregiver scrum as to who might be best positioned to detect who has tried meth, as an estimated 10 million Americans have, and who might be heavy users, as an estimated 1.4 million Americans are, authorities think that dentists could be first-finders and -responders in a novel way to try to curb this epidemic form of drug abuse.
$1.86 million grant will let Bruins probe oral health, meth use, abuse
