Everyday we come upon individuals with abnormal behaviors. It makes us wonder if it is a syndrome, disease, or are they using drugs. As dental assistants we have to be aware of all the unusual behaviors at our dental office. The patient's safety should be a priority. There are various health problems relating back to dentistry many do not know of. One of them being “meth mouth”.
Meth mouth is caused by a drug called methamphetamine. In the street this strong stimulant drug can be known as meth, speed, ice, chalk, crank, fire, glass, or crystal. This drug can be smoked, snorted, injected, or taken orally. Methamphetamine comes in various forms. One of them being a bitter tasting powder that can be easily dissolved in beverages. Another common form is clear, chunky crystal known as “ice” or “crystal meth” and is smoked similarly to cocaine. Additionally, it can also be in a form of small, brightly colored tablets which are often called yaba (their thai name). The desirability of this drug is convenient to many because it is cheap, easy to make, and
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According to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 1.2 million people (.4 percent of the population) reported using methamphetamine in the past year. The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), who collect information of drug related episodes from hospital emergency departments throughout the nation, came to a conclusion that meth accounted for about 103,000 emergency department visits in 2011. Methamphetamine use is greater in the west and parts of the midwest as reported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Community Epidemiology Work Group. The 2012 Monitoring the Future (MTF), reported Meth use in adolescents is common within the age of 12 or are 8th graders. Although, adolescent rates on meth use for 10th and 12th graders have decreased since 2007, the use of meth of those in 8th grades has not dropped within those 5
During the time I watch the video, what stood out the most about the lecture was the apprehension of the methamphetamine. First of all, I am so surprised about how much damage which the meth can hurt human beings. The meth is able to wreck human so horrible that almost nobody can realize or imagine what the addicts’ features look like before. King Corrections Officer reviewed the transformation of an addict’s feature between before and after he take the meth, and his description about this man changed into “helpless, pitiful” from “tough”. However, the worst section about meth is not its’ destructive po...
This particular drug couples society with many damaging effects. Society is put in great danger with Methamphetamine users integrated amongst the other population. Children playing in parks and other recreational areas are at risk for exposure to needles left from users. Children who live in homes where there is methamphetamine use or production are at risk for exposure to the drug. Exposure to the toxic substance could cause developmental impairments and ultimately could be life threatening. Children are again put in the crossfire of Methamphetamine when they lose a parent due to a lethal dose, or a parent goes to jail. Many states have formed a Drug Endangered Children’s Program; this program has fought to change Legislation. Due to DEC many states have made extra efforts to protect children from Methamphetamine, unfortunately Kentucky is not a state involved in this program.
Frontline’s “The Meth Epidemic,” is a shocking documentary that exposes the dangerous effects of meth and explores the cultural patterns related to meth addiction. Understanding the severity of the effects of meth and how it is made are two important lessons to take away from this video because understanding those two things will help us to better understand how to combat this epidemic. Two effects of meth addiction are an increase in property crimes and an increase in the number of children entering foster care. Shockingly, half of the inmates in Portland jails were meth users, and meth addicts commit 80% of the property crimes in Oregon. These statistics show how meth can not only negatively affect an individual and a family, but a whole community.
Crystal meth is a sub-category of amphetamine. Amphetamines are synthetic amines- which are similar to the body's neurotransmitter: norepinehrine and the hormone epinephrine (adrenaline). Amphetamines stimulate the reticular activating system. This activation is transmitted to all parts if the brain. This process causes the user to become aroused, alert and hypersensitive to stimuli- such as sun light.
Drug abuse refers to the sale, possession or the manufacture of an illicit drug. Bartol and Bartol classify dominant psychoactive drugs into four categories namely; stimulants, hallucinogens, sedative-hypnotics and opiate narcotics (2011). A psychoactive drug is a chemical substance that influences an individual’s perception, decision-making, behavior and mood (Bartol & Bartol, 2011). Methamphetamine or popularly known on the streets as meth, glass, crystal (pure form) or speed is a drug that traces its origin from the West Coast in the 1970s and has swept across the United States.
Don't let incarceration or death affect the life of you, or someone that you love. Understanding the horrific effects of methamphetamine can make a difference in life or death. According to T. Lopez (2014), at age eighteen she lost her father due to the impact that methamphetamine had on his heart and kidneys. Nevertheless, a few years later she and her husband became a victim of the awful cycle of addiction. Unfortunately, due to their addiction they became involved in criminal activity and found their selves jailed leaving behind their five children. Methamphetamine is a potent stimulant that affects the central nervous system (CNS). It is commonly called speed, meth, chalk, ice, crystal, crank, and glass. Meth is a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystal-like powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol (Speed , 2011). It was created “from the drug amphetamine, and was originally used in nasal decongestants, bronchial inhalers, and the treatment of narcolepsy and obesity” (Treating Methamphetamine Addiction). Methamphetamine is considered to be “a Schedule II drug - a drug with little medical use and a high potential for abuse” (Treating Methamphetamine Addiction). Although it can be made in small secret laboratories with fairly inexpensive over-the-counter ingredients, “over 85% of methamphetamine is made in super labs in California and Mexico” (Meth Addiction Statistics, 2014). Methamphetamine abuse is a very serious addiction that affects a user’s mental and physical states while simultaneously destroying their lives; without managed treatment, misfortune is inevitable.
Methamphetamine is an extremely dangerous drug that is included in the same drug class as other drugs like Cocaine. It’s most common street names include; ice, glass, crank, and meth. Meth starts off as a stimulant, but turns into a drug that will destroy your body. Meth addiction is one of the hardest addictions to treat, which is why many people result in dying from an overdose of meth. (What is Crystal Meth Addiction)
Methamphetamine is said to have first made its appearance in the United States as early as World War II (Anglin, Burke, Perrochet, Stamper, & Dawud-Noursi, 2000). It was given to soldiers and pilots to increase their endurance as well as their attentiveness. Roughly two decades later, a liquid form of methamphetamine became available for the treatment of heroin addiction. It wasn’t until the 1990’s where it really began to be a problem. In trailer parks across Oregon, methamphetamine abuse was at an all-time high (Byker, 2011). By 2003, meth had begun spreading throughout the United States as the number of reports of meth labs increased from as far east as Florida.
This widely known drug doesn't come in only one form, but the two most popular would be Hydrochloride Salt and Freebase form, and Crack. Hydrochloride Salt is the powdered form of cocaine. It is a white crystalline substance like shown in movies and shows. People can either snort this through their nose or inject it into their veins as it dissolves into water. Street names for this from of cocaine are blow, coke, flake, C and snow. Freebase cocaine is the type people smoke, it is chosen over Hydrochloride Salt because it takes effect in 10 seconds. Crack cocaine is considered to be the most potent and addictive form. The most famous form of cocaine would be crack. It is processed from powdered to freebase. Cocaine can only be detected in blood or urine only several hours after it's use, meaning if they were to be tested after those hours they would seem drug free.
Due to their direct contact with patients, personnel of health care teams are exposed to a higher risk of contracting diseases. Specifically, this risk becomes more potential for dental professional teams if we know that most of the human microbial pathogens are isolated from oral secretions. They can cause serious diseases that might transmit from patients to the personnel, and vice versa (Bednarsh & Molinri, 2010). In 1970 and the early 1980s, result showed the tendency among dental professionals to have more certain infectious diseases than the general public due to their exposure to blood and saliva of their patients (Bednarsh & Molinri, 2010). Disease, such as hepatiti...
On a Friday this semester, I got to observe two very interesting aspects to dental hygiene that I have yet to encounter! I started off observing Maricela clean an elderly woman’s teeth. This woman had a permanent upper denture and a total of seven teeth (mainly anterior teeth) on her lower dentition. Since this appointment didn’t take too long, I also had the privilege to experience a calculus three patient receive local anesthetic injections that was in the unit next to Maricela’s. The calculus three patient was on his fourth appointment, which would complete the last quadrant in his deep cleaning care plan.
Most drug addictions initiates in the household, and more spikes in teens have been discovered. The main substances that are commonly abused are alcohol and marijuana. Marijuana has been classified as the “Gateway Drug” meaning that most people start using marijuana first, and as the high isn’t high enough they proceed to the next drug level, which in today’s time is called “Molly.” Molly is basically an extract from the purest form of Meth, and once your hooked, that’s the beginning of a horrible journey. According to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "In terms of damage to teenagers and to our society, Meth is now the most dangerous drug in America (2012)." Substance users think drugs are the solution, but in reality IT’S THE PROBLEM.
Most people do not understand how a person become addicted to drugs. We tend to assume that is more an individual problem rather than a social problem. However, teen substance abuse is indeed a social problem considered a priority for the USA department of public health due to 9 out of 10 Americans with addictions started using drugs before the age 18 (CASA Columbia University). Similarly, 1 in 4 Americans with addictions started using the substance during their teenage years, which show a significant different with 1 in 25 Americans with addiction who started using at 21 or older (CASA, 2011).
Over the years, I have asked myself whether drug addiction is a disease or a choice. Previously, I have been on the side that the drug is a choice. Many articles and researchers state that drug addiction is a brain disease. However, to many drug addiction is a choice. After learning about drug and alcohol, I believe drug addiction is a brain disease.
Drug addiction is a very big problem in today’s society. Many people have had their lives ruined due to drug addiction. The people that use the drugs don’t even realize that they have an addiction. They continue to use the drug not even realizing that their whole world is crashing down around them. Drug addicts normally lose their family and friends due to drug addiction.