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Dental Habits, Knowledge, and Attitudes of Young Drug Addicts

The aim of the present study was to obtain information about a group of young drug addicts' dental habits, knowledge, and attitudes. Semistructured interviews with openended questions based on well-defined hypotheses were obtained with 20 intravenous drug addicts attending a Danish addiction clinic. All the interviews were taped and typed out verbatim. The analysis of the interviews was primarily carried out qualitatively. Almost all the addicts had been enrolled in the Public Child Dental Care system and the majority vividly remembered this as an unpleasant experience. None of the addicts attended a dentist regularly after having finished school, when the drug abuse usually started. Only a need for acute relief could generally motivate the addicts to visit a dentist, and in the few instances they were questioned about any drug abuse or viral hepatitis infection they usually concealed this. They evidenced very limited knowledge concerning the causes and prevention of dental decay and periodontal disease, and the high prevalence of dental caries was often believed to be caused solely or partly by the ascorbic acid or citric acid that is mixed and injected together with the drugs. A distinct behaviour with a neglected oral hygiene and an excessive intake of candy, soft drinks, and other food with a high sugar content was common. The dietary habits were related to the injection of the drugs in a ritual manner. The drug addicts only realized how deplorable their dental health had become during periods of abstinence, and then they were often embarrassed or ashamed of their esthetic appearance, although this was not perceived to have a negative influence on attempts at resocialization. Any improvement in the dental behaviour in this group and a decrease in their dental disease is undoubtedly closely connected with stopping drug abuse, or at least reducing it, together with an improvement in these individuals' entire situation.