Oxycontin Damaged My Teeth (Page 21) (Top voted first)

Has anyone else known oxycontin to rot the teeth? I used to be on vicodin until my doctor told me I needed to switch to a morphine based meds. She put me on ms contin but I had problems with it so she put me on 80mg oxycontin. Eventually my body built up a tolerance so she kept raising it, i have am now on from 4-6 per day of the 80mg tabs. It scares me that this is what rotted my teeth because only 5 yrs ago i had only 2 cavities that needed filling and then only 1 yr after going on the oxycontin i had to have all my top front teeth pulled as they where rotting from the inside out the dentist said my mouth looked like a heroin addict's mouth looks. He said it was shocking to him that normally he only saw such damage from someone who abused drugs with so much dental damage, but i have never done any street drugs and have only take my meds as prescribed to me. Now i have lost 80% of my teeth and as a beautiful 41 yr old mother its devastating. I cant afford dentures and sure cant afford implants like i would like to have. I am a single mother and refuse to date because i have lost my teeth now, i had beautiful teeth before i started on the oxycontin and only 2 small cavities that needed filling. Does anyone else have this same problem and if so why hasn't the company making oxycontin warn patients of this possible problem?

If i had known this would cause me to lose most of my teeth i would have never agreed to go on it. Of course my family doctor who has been prescribing them tells me she hasn't heard of any other cases, yet when i researched the med online there where others like this why hasn't something been put in the warnings about this med, i sure would have preferred to have lived in pain the rest of my life rather than lose my teeth and be unable to even eat now. My health has gone downhill fast as i cant even chew foods necessary for good health. All I can eat now are yogurts, and liquid type of foods which isn't much. My kids are 7 and 9 yrs old and they watch me cry when we go out to eat and they order steak, and i can smell it but can't order one as i know i wont be able to chew it. This is so devastating for me. I want teeth so badly if i could wish for anything in life besides not to be poor anymore it would be to have a full set of real teeth or implants but i could never dream of having them, and i don't know anyone out there willing to just help me get any either. I have always helped others all my life, but cant even help myself, i have had to have 29 surgeries now since 1991 when a drunk driver hit my car and caused me major injuries with my lower back and knees, i have had a full lower back fusion and 8 arthroscopic knee surgeries until a year ago they finally had to do a full right knee replacement and now they are talking about doing my left knee soon.

So my life has been up and down with surgeries and i would go thru one more surgery just to have teeth implanted if i could. but i could never afford it, but i would like to know why these drug manufacturers are making a medication that could cause teeth to rot like this without warning us patients or even warning the doctors about it. This is just terrible of them i think, as now i am the one paying for this by having no teeth to eat with at such a young age now. I am a vibrant young 41 yr old at 5'3, 120lbs, slim woman, nice looking too as i was a model in my younger days, so i keep my looks up. But to have no teeth now... I never smile anymore, I am to ashamed to smile even though it wasn't my fault i lost my teeth. I think they should pay for me to have new teeth but no one wants to admit that the med causes it, but my diet wasn't the problem back when i started the medication and i wasn't drinking coca-cola either or doing street drugs so i know that wasn't the cause either. The only thing that changed within one year to cause this was starting the oxycontin medication. Well, if anyone out there can help me let me know thanks.

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Oh wow. Who are you? I'm trying to tell people what worked for me. Who are you to sit there and say tooth decay can't be reversed. Wow, the ignorance Christine. I have reversed my tooth decay by this protocol. #1 oil pulling. #2 cod liver oil and high vitamin butter oil. #3 gum at night in your mouth which helps with dry mouth. #4 mineral water. #5 coconut oil. And so on and so on. I'm trying to help people with what worked for me. You seem very upset, and that's a big red flag to me. What do you suggest we do Christine? You seem to be the expert around here. You know what, I'm sorry for trying to help people Christine. I never claimed my protocol will work for everyone. BUT IT IS WORKING WONDERS FOR ME. I could care less if you don't think tooth decay can't be reversed. You are either a dentist or a shill. Teeth are bones. Bones heal themselves in the right environment. Why am I even talking to you?

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I must make sure that anyone that read my post about always drinking water or other drinks . I have found this only delays your teeth problem of rotting and breaking and having the enamel start to dissipate from where the tooth meets your gums and turning your teeth black before falling out or breaking off ! Also remember that the company that makes OxyContin or whatever they changed the name to today charges a enormous , unbelievable amount of money for this medication ! I got injured at work so luckily I don't pay out of pocket for this medicine . But when I was told by someone what this medcine cost I could not beleive it ! What I was told was that a 80mg pill cost at least $80.00 and at one time was taking 3 80mg.pills twice a day . So that is $240.00 twice a day ! $480.00 a day $175.200 dollars for 365 days ! Now the price I was told is the possible price and I don't positively know that's right . I would like to know for sure if anyone knows the price that they cost because at that type money one hundred and seventyfive thousand and two hundred dollars a year ! Then the fact that I have been on this for well over 10 years if that price is right we are talking one million and seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars! Now if that ends up being right you would think that the price of implants for my teeth would be affordable to them ! Also I still have to take this because anyone that has this kind of back pain and has taken this medication for any period of time know's that this is the only time releasesed pain meds that I know of has taken years off my life ! Also if you don't have your meds for any Reason you feel the pain in your back and withdraw pain that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy !
But with seven bad disc problems I am stuck in this spot that no one would ever want to be for all the money in the world ! Can't talk about anymore or the depression I feel will never let me sleep !

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Might I add. How dangerous of you to come on here and state that tooth decay can't be reversed. So you talked to a dentist? Wow. No dentist would ever tell you the truth. Heck 9 out of 10 dentists probably don't even know. Why? Because if people knew they could repair their teeth with expensive, useless procedures. IE: Root canals which create more problems than were there in the first place. Oh look, Mr dentist is out of a job. We can't have that can we? Prove to me you can't regrow tooth enamel. Funny how I did it. With the right diet and nutrients you can indeed help your teeth. Just because you have no luck doesn't mean you paint everything with a black brush.

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I didnt think so either. Once surface is gone, its gone

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Sorry, but am I understanding you correctly? You actually think you can regrow a tooth?

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Have you considered a different medicine? I use a Duragesic patch. It has some downsides, but it is MUCH better at pain control than any pill I've ever taken and I don't have to dread those hours in between when the meds have worn off, but it's not quite time for another. Mine is covered, but even when it wasn't, I got a discount for free so the usual box of ten which costs $650 a month for the insurance only cost me $137 a month.

I can't imagine the Oxy costing THAT much per pill. Even the street cost of one pill isn't that much! Geez!

If you have that much back pain are you not getting disability and with that a medical coverage with formulary benefits? Then you wouldn't be spending that $1,750,000.

Sorry if I'm prying too much. It just seemed about as plausible as regrowing teeth.

I DO think there should be some type of compensation from the Big Pharmas for all of us patients who've lost their smile and ability to eat! In my state I get bupkis with no chance of ever having any kind if restorative dental work. Thanks for that America!

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Re your last question on your "Who are you..." post.... Good question! LOL....

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I can only go by my latest insurance company statement which indicates that my Rx, had I had to pay for it completely out of pocket (Oxycontin 80 mg x 60 per month), would have cost me $835 and change. That works out to be $13.92 per pill. Since i was in the wonderful Medicare "donut hole" I still had to pay almost $400 out of pocket (which is a third of my social security award!) so, while I'm in their "hole," (which is at least half the year before I can pay my way out of it) I have very little left to live on. I AM thankful, however, because just a couple of years ago, the same Rx cost me over a thousand dollars which left me just a couple hundred to live on for an entire month so I guess it could be worse.... Then again, I've lost half my teeth in those two years so I'm not sure I'm better off now. By the way, in case anyone is wondering.... Yes, I've tried dozens of other pain meds but they don't come close to reducing my often horrendous abdominal pain. God I wish there was one!

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If it was me that upset you (Been here before) for that I am sorry because that was not my intension ! If I understand correctlely you r not saying that a lost tooth will grow back but If I lost part of my enamel will that somehow reverse and grow back ? If that is in anyway possible would you be able to repost exactly what I will need and a step by step instructions telling me exactly what to do ! This would allow me to go out In public and not be so imbarrased that I try not to even smile in fear that someone would see what I see every time I look in mirror ! I am at the point if anyone has any idea that will help me deal with this I will try anything and everthing as long as I have a chance to change what has been done to my teeth ! I feel this way because anyone who post on this sight would never make anyone spend money and time trying something that has know chance of helping ! Because money is so short or I would already have implants and not have to deal with tooth pain ! I would only have my severe back pain to deal with! Thank you for any and all information that will help me with my problem !

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Ahhhh, okay. That's different than what was posted before: $80 a pill.

Still not affordable enough at $13 a pill though.

I'm also in a hole with the formulary I'm allowed to get meds from. Can't even get the one medicine that is actually and specifically used to treat my disease. The stuff I take now is off label and, of course, does not work all that well.

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It might be that the $80 a pill is what the street cost is. My understanding (not that I would EVER sell any of my priceless pills that I depend on to control my pain), is that the common street pricing for Oxy is $1.00 per milligram and, thus, the $80 per 80 mg tab. They are very sought after which is why I do a couple of things when I go pick up my Rx..... 1- I always bring my cell phone and I also bring my taser in case I am approached (robbing attempt) and, 2- I ALWAYS have a member of the stores management staff (or a member of their security staff, if they have any) walk me to my car. You just can't be too careful these days (heck, my own nephew stole from me so I had to put a dead bolt lock on my bedroom door, for goodness sakes!) so do whatever you need to do to keep yourself SAFE!

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No.... If anyone is dangerous it's people like you who are tantamount to snake oil salesmen of the old west.

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I completely agree, Guitargirl! And, what I cannot understand is why, after SO MANY YEARS, Purdue is still charging an outrageous price for each pill when their development costs have been covered most likely a hundred times over and more. This is profit, plain and simple and they should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of those of us who have no choice in the matter while their CEO earns tens of millions of dollars a year through our pain and suffering (not to mention the side effect of us losing our teeth!). I'm sure the CEO does a whole lot of smiling while we have no teeth left to smile with as a result of their not being up front about what was going to eventually happen to our smiles!

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Hi I feel your frustration embarrassment pain and I share and am living with the same experience with my teeth.I was severely injured at my job 9 years ago at the age of 42. I have had two very serious back surgeries. Four disc removed and replaced with 6 metal cages 10 screws 3 rods. First surgery was 12 hours I died 6 blood transfusions to bring me back to life. Six weeks in the hospital. I am just about ready to start the journey of having a drug/pain pump implant and spinal cord stimulation implant. Because of 8 years of strong narcotics my fillings are falling out my teeth are breaking off. Good luck to you and God Bless you.

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Cindy -
Good luck with the implant trials. Having a pain pump implanted was the only thing to get me off the narcotics (although not in time to save my teeth) and has made a WORLD of difference in my day to day life. I truly hope that you have the same experience as I have. If you do have one implanted be prepared to be unable to move for about a week afterwards. The first few days I needed help doing everything, but it was absolutely worth it.
Best of luck and God bless.

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Glad to hear the pump implant is working. I've been wanting to try that, but hadn't had coverage. I attend and shoot pics for a 10k in LA every December for USC's Pain research in RSD and other chronic pain and there's a rep from a company that makes those pumps who I've spoken with to get info about them. This year a different company came to the event that makes an electrical stimulator that is placed similarly and has a remote control that operates the its situ of the stimulation. NO DRUGS! They even let you try it out for FREE for a week to see if it's a good fit for you by placing the leads through to your epidural space and securing the unit outside your body. If it works for you then they can implant the device. I really want to try it, but have to wait now because I need surgery for a more pressing problem. I wish I knew someone who has tried this.

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Guitargirl-
I did the spinal chord stimulator trial before I did the trial for the intrathecal pain pump. I too was hopeful that there was a medication free option that may work but found the stimulator to actually increase my pain. But don't lose hope, the information that I've read says that typically one of the two options will work it really just depends on the person. My doctor told me that usually if one doesn't work for someone the other does. I would encourage you to absolutely do the stimulator trial When you have the opportunity to. Having RSD I know that anything that has the potential to work (especially without meds!) Is worth a shot. You may also talk to your primary care physician about lidocaine infusions. Before I had the pump implanted I was receiving IV lidocaine infusions every 2 weeks because at that point the pumps were not covered by my insurance. They weren't as effective as the pump but they did help my pain tremendously. If you have any more questions I would be more than happy to answer them.
Hope you have a happy end to 2013 :)

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damn lady.. always an excuse? your right about the teeth rot. I notice my teeth rotting about six months ago. Just waiting for the opportunity that I could afford to have some work done. I take Roxicontin - 15 mg 3 times a day and time release Oxycontin - 30 mg 2 times a day. When I do not have pain medications... I desperately go to the streets looking for relief!

September 1st 2009 at 6:30 am I had a tumor removed from "inside" my "Spinal Cord". The tumor had enlarged at such a rate before it was found... ok Imagine you have a blob of fat "inside the spinal cord" growing... growing.. and growing... When I lifted a ladder off my van at work.... to work on someones phone... "work for at&t as an 1) service tech and 2) lineman..... it sounded like a water balloon exploding... The Tumor grew so large that it actually had busted out of the "SPINAL CORD" and when I was cut open he found out that it literally wrapped around the external part of the spinal cord seven (7) times. I was on the table for eight (8) total hours.... when I woke up out of "ANESTHESIA" my mother heard me from the ICU room all the way through ""SIX (6) double doors" in the "WAITING ROOM". The nurse immediately put me back to sleep after they saw I could move my toes and fingers. They had to keep me on heavy drugs for the first 6 days.... SO HEAVY that they had to use a "synthetic drug"... morphine would not help the pain damn near at all.... and the amount that would help was close to lethal.

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Dear Stephan O., Sure would like to know what you meant by, "... always an excuse..."

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I have been told by a few attorneys that if enough of us get together to form a class action lawsuit it can be done because I have the same problems with my teeth and no Dr, pharmacist or any of the papers I have been given say anything about damage to the teeth may occour

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