Dr. Melinda Anderson stands beside computer X-rays of a patient with meth mouth inside her mobile dental office. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

Dr. Melinda Anderson remembers the day vividly.

Six years ago, she was a 25-year-old dental student at Loma Linda University in California, and a 20-year-old man came into the university believing he might have chipped a tooth.

"He might just as well have been sucking on radioactive materials," she said last week as she took a break between patients at her Las Vegas practice. "What had been done to his mouth was that toxic. I couldn't believe what I was seeing."

Anderson recalled that most of the teeth on the right side of the patient's mouth were broken off at the gumline. His gums were pus-streaked. Teeth that remained were twisted and either black stubs or a strange grayish-brown. And they had a bizarre texture that was more like ripened fruit than hard enamel.

"I was so confused by what I was seeing that I immediately went to an instructor," she said. "I couldn't believe someone so young literally had to get what remaining teeth he had extracted. When I described what I found ... the instructor simply said, 'Oh, he has to be a methamphetamine user.' "

The oral effects of methamphetamine, an addictive drug commonly made with household products or over-the-counter medicines, are so devastating and so unique that the condition is now known in medical circles as meth mouth.

In a few months, use of the drug can turn a healthy set of teeth into a rotting mess. But the physical pain often associated with dental problems seldom is experienced by meth users, according to clinicians, largely because the nerves in their teeth die quickly.

Recovering meth addicts often need emergency care, and the American Dental Association says the problem is growing dramatically.

Although meth mouth does turn up in private dental practices, the condition is more often seen in dental clinics in jails and prisons.

With federal studies showing that Nevada leads the nation in use of the drug, it comes as little surprise that corrections officials worry that the dental budget for the state's inmates will be expensive for taxpayers.

Statistics indicate that methamphetamine already is causing the dental budget in the correctional system to soar.

Current budget numbers show $2.1 million spent for dental care, up from $1.3 million four years ago.

The etiology of the meth mouth seen in a growing number of inmates is simple: Use of the drug inhibits saliva production, which exposes teeth to bacteria that cause cavities.

In self-treating their "dry mouth," addicts drink sugared sodas -- Mountain Dew, according to dentists, is the preferred drink -- which spurs decay. The highly addictive nature of methamphetamine causes many users to halt most hygienic practices, including brushing their teeth.

Because meth makes users feel anxious or nervous, they regularly clench and grind their teeth, which often leads to cracks in the enamel. When the drug causes vessels that supply blood to oral tissues to shrink up, the tissues die, a sure path to the worst kind of gum disease.

"The mouths of the addicts we see in prison often aren't pretty," said Dr. Jeff Lissy, the state's top dentist in the correctional system. "Many of the inmates didn't take care of their teeth before they started meth, so use of the drug is just one more assault on their dental care."

Nevada's prison population has increased from 10,500 to 12,500 inmates over the same time frame that the dental budget has increased. Lissy estimates that 40 percent of the dental budget goes toward treating meth addicts.

Because there is no statistical breakout for the reasons inmates are being treated for dental problems, Lissy said, he can't be exact about costs of treating meth mouth.

"We hope to have a computer system in place next year that can help us get that information," he said.

Lissy said he believes far more extractions are performed and dentures made because of inmates with meth mouth.

Criminal justice officials believe half of those convicted of criminal activity in the state have a link to methamphetamine. Men and women often commit burglaries and robberies to get the money to feed their addictions.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has called the fight against methamphetamine addiction "the colossal struggle of our times."

The funding he has proposed goes largely to law enforcement and rehabilitation programs. None of the money he has proposed toward fighting the drug is slated to go toward treating meth mouth in inmates.

Dr. Edward Herschaft, a dentist with the University of Nevada School of Dental Medicine, said an increasing number of dental emergencies in the university's clinic are caused by meth mouth.

"Methamphetamine is causing a huge public health problem in the Las Vegas Valley," he said.

Methamphetamine can be swallowed, snorted, smoked or injected. In the short term, it produces a rush.

In less than a year, however, a person will experience fatigue, irritability, anxiety, confusion, violent rages, sleeplessness and depression. Users can become psychotic and experience paranoia, which can lead to homicidal or suicidal thoughts.

Lissy said the farther away inmates get from methamphetamine use, the more they worry about their appearance.

"They realize that they're disfigured, that it might be even more difficult for them to get a job when they get out," he said.

He stressed that prison dentistry consists of providing "necessary and adequate" care -- extractions and fillings are most common -- but not providing dentistry for cosmetic purposes.

Implants are the best alternative for those who have lost all their teeth, according to Anderson, the Las Vegas dentist, but the price is prohibitive: at least $50,000 for a full set.

Anderson estimates that a conservative cost estimate for extractions and the subsequent placement of dentures is about $3,000 to $5,000.

Dr. Matthew Messina, a Cleveland-based consumer adviser to the American Dental Association, puts the cost closer to $10,000.

"The big problem is that if you get dentures when you're in your 20s, your bone dies and you're no longer able to have dentures when you're older," Anderson said. "So you either go with no teeth or somehow must be able to afford implants."

Last week, Anderson was ending her work day at the On Site Dental mobile clinic parked behind Paris Las Vegas. The mother of a 2-year-old son was tired after a day of "too many extractions." She works on meth mouth patients at On Site Dental on a pro bono basis.

Although On Site Dental treats many gaming employees, she stressed they aren't the patients who come to her with meth mouth.

Anderson, whose husband, Shawn, is also a dentist, said she wants "to help people with this addiction, but you don't feel like you're doing that much with extractions."

"There's not much we can do until we get them off this stuff, until we show people that it's foolish to even try it.

"It's going to take all of us in the community to work and solve this meth problem," she said. "Almost all of us know someone who has been involved with this. From the way I see people needing help with their teeth, I'm not sure we've seen the worst of this yet."