The oral health status and behaviour of methadone users in Lithuania.

Objective: To find out the oral health of former heroin users in Lithuania, who are currently on methadone treatment.

Materials and methods: Subjects of research are patients, who were receiving methadone as a medication for heroin addiction. The research was done in Centre for Addictive Diseases in Lithuania. Oral health examinations were carried out using a probe and dental inspection mirror. The decayed-missing-filled (DMF) index and Silness Loe plaque indices were used. Patients received a questionnaire of smoking habits, dentist visits, daily dose of methadone and symptoms of hyposalivation. All the data was entered to Microsoft Office Excel 2016 and analyzed by SPSS 25.0 software.

Results: Study included 49 patients - 7 women and 42 men. The mean age of these subjects was 40.3±8.1, ranging from 26 to 58 years old. Mean number of decayed, filled, missing and residual roots were 3.1±2.9, 12.1±9.5, 0.3±1.3, 4.4±4.1, respectively. Mean score of Silness Loe plaque index was 1.7±0.9. The statistical difference (p<0.05) was found between patients DMF and their visits to the dentist. Participants who go to the dentist at least once per year (mean DMF 15.55±8.7) versus patients, who go less than one time per year/ urgent situation or do not visit dentists at all (mean DMF 21.7±7.3).

Conclusion: Study shows the poor oral health of former illicit drugs users who are on methadone-based addiction treatment.