Oral Health Status Among Drug Abusers

Abstract Purpose- To evaluate oral health status among drug abusers. Methods- We used data National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) data of 2011-2012 to examine the relationship between oral health and drug abuse. Drug abuse data included people who are using or used marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and injected drugs. Presence of decayed teeth, missing teeth which are not replaced and periodontal status are used as indicators of oral disease. We used SAS® 9.4 for our analysis. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship while adjusting for demographic variables. Results- A total of 4116 participants from 18 to 69 years were used for our analysis purposes. Total number of drug users are 1916. No significant relation was detected between oral health and drug abuse (OR=0.942, 95% CL= 0.756, 1.176). Conclusion- Among the participants of our study which included 1916 drug abusers no significant difference in oral health status was observed.