UCLA dental school gets $1.8M grant to study meth abuse

Jun 29, 2010

The National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse has granted the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Dentistry $1.86 million to study the oral and dental consequences of methamphetamine use.

Vivek Shetty, D.D.S., D.M.D., a professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery, is the principal investigator of the project. For the four-year study, he aims to build on his previous research, which provided the first systematic evidence of higher rates of oral disease among methamphetamine abusers.

In a paper published in the March 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association (Vol. 141:3, pp. 307-318), Dr. Shetty and his co-authors reported that overt dental disease is a key distinguishing medical comorbidity in methamphetamine users who otherwise present as generally healthy individuals, especially in the early stages of their drug abuse.

"Our finding that dental disease is a prominent marker of methamphetamine use creates opportunities to implement targeted interventions in the dental office -- a hitherto unexploited setting in the management of this epidemic," Dr. Shetty said in a press release. "Funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse will allow us to further characterize methamphetamine's oral disease burden so as to support dental professionals who, as oral health specialists, are in a unique position to detect the drug's use and participate as integral members of a collaborative care team tending to methamphetamine users."

The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that more than 10 million Americans have tried methamphetamine, while more than 1.4 million are habitual users.

Long-term use of the drug can lead to devastating medical, psychological, and social consequences, including mood disturbances, violent behavior, an increased risk of contracting infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, and higher rates of crime, unemployment, and child abuse and neglect. It can also result in a uniquely accelerated form of extensive dental disease known as "meth mouth."

"Methamphetamine use is a persistent and pernicious social problem. Dr. Shetty's research will address the 'meth mouth' issue with the scientific rigor that this public health issue deserves," said No-Hee Park, D.M.D., Ph.D., dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry.