Oxycontin Damaged My Teeth (Page 29) (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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Christine I am posting regularly mostly less specific posts thanks.

The supplements won't help it's not strengthening it's less saliva and the lack of which eats away and causes erosion.

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Actually mine is abdominal pain due to a rare and so far untreatable form of colitis, diverticulitis and abdominal adhesion syndrome. There's no cure and every known treatment has either not worked or most often than not has made it worse. Further and in regard to supplements, virtually every one of them contain magnesium strearate which gives me even worse diarrhea than I already have to deal with throughout the day and night. Nothing worse than having to start wearing Depends beginning at the ripe old age of 58 and not because I can't control my bladder! That, along with the constant pain makes for a pretty depressing life (and, yes, I'm also on antidepressants which as you said also contributes to the dry mouth/tooth decay).

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Christine I empathize hon and trust me most of us (I have IBS and CFS) would prefer the trots due to the opioid therapy. ((Hugs)) well it is nice to meet you we will have to get to know one another better. All these years on SSDI and some local denies my claim and now must fight SSA after just taking comp back to court. God bless <3

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Christine I may be out of a roof soon too after all these years I had to attempt to work and got terminated as a Director of Nursing to get to California these past years since my PM of 10 years died in Houston so due to my complexity had to go out there. Comp is supposed to pay transport then regulations changed all out of state patients got dumped as well so have not had a PM for about 6 months but now my SSDI is blown off by a local SSA person. I can't began to tell you if you want tell Mark it's ok and I'll respond.

God connects good people:)

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Christine my brain is a mess too many legal briefs working on today and of course I'll have to represent myself. I went ahead and wrote it's Nick not Mark (duh) and I'm sure they have a lot of stuff to sift through. If you go to their contact area and set up an email (just like these posts) and give permission I am sure they will connect us.

For now peace out sister :)

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They should already personal email address since I was the one who got that possibility established in the first place.

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Christine good for you I sent release its 1 a.m. awake and in pain will catch you when we have each other's
contacts.

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Yes I didn't think of that. Thank you P540

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The only thing that would cause rotten teeth with this drug is dry mouth? Also, what else are you taking. I'm not saying you use methamphetamine but methamphetamine will cause rotten teeth. Make sure your hydrated for sure. Otherwise, the only thing you can do is brush often. Good luck! Rotten teeth will affect your health in general.

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Ali this is scientific research decreased saliva my dear is not external it is due to metabolic defects caused by metabolism of the opioids in your case amphetamine.

This is not remedied at all by good dental hygiene I've been seen by the top researcher and rare pain specialist Dr. T in California both he and a top dental expert state otherwise.

Hygiene is necessary but won't do a thing for this.

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Thank you for letting others who would've known this is a side affect know. It really is devastating. I had my front teeth knocked out when I was 22 it took months to finally have the stubs pulled bc I had no money and I worked ft with my teeth that way. It's terrible that the manufacturers of oxy doesn't warn of this side affect. I pray you find a way to fix your teeth.
A side note, my daughter is disabled (someone threw a 7lb rock off a overpass thru the windshield hitting her in the face) when she applied for Medicaid, she signed up for dental they haven't made her pay so far. Maybe there's a dental school that can help if that doesn't work?
Your story is truly heartbreaking. God bless

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Ali the person wrote in 2008 we knew about decreased saliva then (I am a professional nurse and published researcher) and will tell you ALL opioids cause this not just one ALL. Now more physicians are noting it and attempting to get patients restorative care for example my catastrophic injury was work related. This is secondary damage due to the injury because I must have pain management for life.

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And.... Just to add tho the fact that ALL OPIOID medications have this side effect, virtually all anti depressants carry the same warning. MY problem with the opioid manufacturers is that they BURY this warning on the medication`s pamphlet that, unless you are prescribed a full bottle`s worth, you'll never get access to unless you specifically ask for it or you look up the physicians supplementary medical information on the Internet. Further, I still question just how long the manufacturers have included the dental caries warning as I suspect it's only been fairly recently since the problem with patients losing their teeth have really come to light and people are demanding explanations! Let's also make it clear that the teeth aren't being lost due to simple cavities, either! Most of us are/have been losing our teeth because they are literally breaking apart and the destruction is coming from the inside out and others are having their teeth literally break of at the gum line! This isn't a simple question of cavities or a lack of dental hygiene which many doctors and dentists would like you to believe.

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Christine it is far more dangerous it is medically termed dental erosion which can lead to abscess, bone loss and require total restoration.

Well put.

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I wonder each and every day just when the bone loss, the gum inflammation and the access is going to cause me to stroke or have a heart attack, only two of the myriads of detrimental physical manifestations we are all susceptible to, Baby John!

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Christine it better not!!

You are too cool already I think we will end up meeting one day soon :)

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All of my teeth rotted from inside out. One abcessed so in 2 weeks an oral surgeon is removing one molar with huge hole, a premolar thats decayed & one that snapped at gumline so roots are still there. I also have another one thst snapped on upper left. The three bring removed are all on right. This will bring to ten teeth lost. It's going to cost $2,000 for 3 teeth because I need IV sedation. The oral surgeon was perplexed why I wasn't getting all cavities fixed. Simple. 2 years ago I spent over $1300 getting 13 cavities fixed thst hadn't been there the previous six months. After having them all repaired, at next checkup they were all rotting from inside out. So I'm just doing ones that hurt. What probably prevented major infection is that I take antibiotics everyday due to constant UTI's from interstitial cystitis & pelvic floor dysfunction.

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That's what frightens me the most right now. Most of my teeth are loose and/or are ready to fall out completely and I simply don't know how I'm going to find anyone who will pull it/them out for me when the time comes and before any of them become abcessed and that at which point will become a medical emergency. I'm on Medicare but they don't cover any kind of dental intervention so I can't tell you that I'm not worried about that eventuality!

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Christine depending on your state Medicaid which in Texas does not cover ADULT dental only kiddos check your state Medicaid. Tell them you have Medicare but need emergency dental coverage. I think they do cover dental in your state. Get an oral surgeon to do an evaluation if you can (he'll give you the cost) and tell them you need "emergency temporary assistance." That you spoke to a professional nurse in pain support who states without which you could infect and suffer worse issues then you are now.

Yes people in that system are belligerent and talk down to those needing help but it is worth it don't let this happen. I believe you are too smart and well aware to get to that level but dental infection is often the catalyst for a sudden MI (infection) or worse yet brain infection.

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Lucky good history on your story and you are correct. However, as you know with IC (which I also have God bless you had this before the injury and mine is in remission but a urologist almost killed me instilling bleach in the bladder in an OR I woke up with anesthesia screaming at the top of my longs) and thank God for the famous Kristine Whitmore MD in Philadelphia I was able to come under her care and am in remission for MANY years.

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