Years on ‘meth’ ruin man’s teeth
Rehabilitation helps a Hilo man regain sobriety and get the dental help he needs
By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com
Nine of his upper teeth have been removed and seven on the bottom must go.
"I didn't realize because of meth they just deteriorated," said Casey Kunishige, 42, recovering at Hina Mauka from substance abuse.
"I've been going to the dentist every other week since I've been here and I'm having pain every day," he said. "They just took out the last two and I'm getting partial dentures."
Kunishige, of Hilo, said he began using crystal methamphetamine about 15 years ago and his dental problems began about three years later.
He tried to take care of his teeth, he said, "but no matter what I did, smoking just ate it (enamel) up."
Methamphetamine is made of toxic substances, such as fertilizer, lithium from batteries, lighter fluid, lye and hydrogen peroxide.
The highly acidic substances reduce a person's saliva, needed to neutralize acids and clean food from the teeth. The acids eat the tooth enamel and cause rampant tooth decay.
Kunishige said his mouth used to be real dry and he ate a lot of candy. "You crave chocolate."
He said he couldn't understand why his teeth were falling apart until he went to a dentist who said they all had to be replaced. He didn't have the money for that and continued doing drugs, he said.
He said a co-worker asked him to try crystal meth while they were on a construction job on Kauai. He continued using but always kept his job installing ceramic tile, he said. "I needed my income."
"My wife told me I need help, but at that time, I didn't think I had a problem until everything started to go downhill," he said.
He ended up at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center in August 2002 for terroristic threatening while on ice and carrying firearms in an unlocked case in his truck.
"When you're on meth you feel you need to be protected by some means," he said, explaining the illegal guns.
He underwent rehabilitation during 18 months in prison but went back to using meth when he was released in November on five years' probation, he said. "I wasn't ready to do treatment."
He lost his house and his wife and his three children began to grow distant because of his drug use, he said. "That's when I realized it's not what I want any more."
On Easter, he checked into a psychiatric ward in Hilo and two weeks later he was referred to Hina Mauka's residential treatment center in Honolulu.
"They gave me everything I needed, set me up for medical (coverage). It's amazing how the program works, how big a difference it made for me," he said.
He talks to his ex-wife and children by phone and they are proud of him, he said. "It's really an incentive to complete this."
He moved to a "clean and sober house" Wednesday and will continue classes at Hina Mauka as an outpatient for up to two years until he graduates from the program, he said.
He plans to seek work again in ceramic tile installation.
"I wish I didn't (do drugs), but I can't change what I've already done," he said. "I can only make things better."
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