Abstract
Objectives: to obtain a biomedical oral profile of a community of adult drug addicts in treatment by analysing their dental health, with a view to determining whether the state of their oral health could be attributed primarily to their lifestyle and the direct consequences of drug abuse on their overall condition, rather than to the effects of the drugs used. Experimental Design: the study was conducted under the terms of an agreement between the Complutense University of Madrid’s (UCM) Odontology Faculty and the City of Madrid’s Substance Abuse Institute. Seventy drug addicts and 34 control group subjects were examined. The study assessed oral hygiene habits, systemic pathology, type of drugs used and the duration of use, oral pathology, oral health indices, risk of caries based on saliva tests, oral candidiasis and periodontal microbiology. Results: statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were found between the test and control groups for practically all the variables analysed. In the drug users group, dental hygiene was wanting, systemic and oral pathology prevailed and the decayed/missing/filled teeth or surface (DMFT/S) indices denoted very poor buccodental health. The saliva tests showed a substantial risk of caries and candidiasis rates were high. By contrast, with a single exception, the microbiological studies detected no statistically significant difference between drug users and control groups periodontal flora. Conclusions: drug-dependent patients had poor oral health and a significant increase in oral pathology, essentially caries and periodontal disease. Their risk of caries was high and the presence of candidiasis was representative of their poor general and oral health. Drug users’ poor buccodental condition was more closely related to lifestyle than to drug abuse itself. Key words:Buccal, dental, drug addicts.
Highlights
In 1992, the WHO defined drug addiction as “a state, psychic and sometimes physical, resulting in the interaction between a living organism and a drug, characterized by behavioural and other responses that always include a compulsion to take the drug on a continuous or periodic basis in order to experience its psychic effects, and sometimes to avoid the discomfort of its absence
The total number of subjects in this group was reduced to 64 poly-drug users, after six alcohol users only were excluded
While the drug-dependent patients were more interested in recovering their buccodental function, the control group showed a greater interest in their general health
Summary
In 1992, the WHO defined drug addiction as “a state, psychic and sometimes physical, resulting in the interaction between a living organism and a drug, characterized by behavioural and other responses that always include a compulsion to take the drug on a continuous or periodic basis in order to experience its psychic effects, and sometimes to avoid the discomfort of its absence. One pioneer study noted that drug users tend to suffer from anxiety in connection with dental treatment and report difficulties in accessing such care, or even reluctance among some dentists (as well as other health care professionals) to treat them [3,4] As their pain tolerance is generally low, relief must be administered carefully and good rapport with the dentist established [5]. The present study was conducted in the context of the dental care provided as one of a series of measures to further social reinsertion Implicit in this action was the recognition of the importance of psychological balance, which is largely dependent on physical appearance and quality of oral life. In this high dental risk community, care calls for close collaboration between social work and health care professionals [13,14]
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