Oxycontin Damaged My Teeth (Page 36) (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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OMG, Mailman, it's WONDERFUL to hear from you again! I can't, however, believe what you've been having to deal with and now I know why you haven't been on the forum for awhile. Having to deal with taking care of my Mom and her increasing dementia continues to bear on my me but to make things worse, for me, is not only having to deal with increasing pain, as well as other symptoms, from what I, and my doctor, fear might be stomach cancer and I'll be going to see my gastroenterologist for tests to rule that out. On top of all of that, insofar as what this forum is all about, I'm concerned that I may well be developing an access above where the one front tooth had recently broken in half as well as over the two teeth next to that one. It's pain that I certainly don't need over the back and abdominal pain I've been having to deal with for more than a decade already and my new pain management doctor is adamant that he says some governmental agency who prohibits him from prescribing any more pain medication (my oxycodone) than the 60mg a day he's currently prescribing for my pain. I don't think I need to tell you that, after having been prescribed 360mg a day from my old PM doctor (the one who suddenly decided I was selling my meds and literally cut me off and I was left to go through withdrawal all by myself but, yes, I actually survived!) 60mg is a frigg`n drop in the ocean compared to what I was on and need!

Well, that's history and there's nothing I can do about it BUT I still hold a HUGE grudge against Purdue for screwing up my teeth, and now possibly my gums and/or my upper jaw bone. I don't think I can deal with anymore pain, especially not from my teeth/mouth issues that they've caused!

I wonder if anyone's looked into that "legal action" site that I've been seeing their commercials on tv lately, have you? I suppose I should check it out myself but I'm just too tired, in too much pain, and still stinging from the first and last time I tried to organize everyone on this forum to STOP COMPLAINING and get together to actually DO SOMETHING about it, remember? Perhaps someone who's younger, suffering from less pain, and who's got the guts and wherewithal to start something and go the distance (I'll help, of course) will step up and finish what I tried to start! Hmmm....

Well, again, it was great to hear from you again, sorry you're going through so much but I'm here for you if you need me. Much love to you and everyone here who's been suffering from this injustice! Christine

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I hear that this problem with teeth only stared when they made the new oxycontin with the OP. I have read up on it and that is what a lot of people say. Something about the coating

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Mailman, you have not only always been an angel to and for me, but you've been there for me when no one else would and I can't thank you ENOUGH for that! And, just so you know in regards to that pain doctor, as I (and my Mom, who was a witness to all of it) were literally leaving her office, walking down the hallway, she bounded towards me with a letter in her hands telling me that she'd forgotten to give it to me (meaning a letter with her "reason" for releasing me as her patient). It wasn't until we'd left the parking lot to go across the street to the pharmacy to obtain my last Rx, that I actually read the letter which, get this, DID NOT indicate that she was letting me go for allegedly selling my drugs, but that I'd been let go FOR DOCTOR SHOPPING! Neither allegation had ANY truth to it, of course, and she' had no proof whatsoever of either of them but, don't you (and everyone else, for that matter) find it extraordinarily odd that she would give me one reason, verbally in her office, then hand me a letter as we were leaving, stating a completely different reason?

I never could quite figure that out and, even after calling her office FROM that parking lot after reading that letter and pointing it out to them, all I was told was that the doctor would mail me a letter with the actual reason I was released. That being said, I never received such a letter from her, EVER, even after several subsequent requests for one! I've often thought about reporting her, and what happened to me, to both the AMA as well as to the DEA, but frankly I'm simply too tired, don't think it would make any difference, and certainly won't change the fact that my teeth have been, and continue to be, destroyed. Much love, Mailman, and to all of you on this forum!

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YES !! The exact same thing happened to me. My Dr. kept raising my dose as I got tolerant to it ( to 280 mg. ) I took it for9 yrs. with about 11 surgeries so there was no break & very little pain relief. I went to a new Dr. who said ' your oxycontin & oxycodone aren't workin because you have tolerance. I wear a top denture, lost the lower one ( I have NO Teeth ) & my gums have shrunk &'my facial contours have changed. I will be getting snap on Dentures with 4 posts ( because of the Cost of implants ) I don't go out much. I'm a married ' housewife ' w/ 3 children. Prior to my teethbeingpulled, I had aterrible sinus infectionthat spread to the roots of my teeth & turned them black. I'm angry, & I hope insurance pays for at leasth part of it !!

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ANGELA, I WAS ON OXYCONTIN, 240 mg./DAY PLUS OXYCODONE,15 mg. 4x day, for 6 yrs., until MY TEETH ROTTED, TOO, & I had to have every toothinmy mouth pulled & swapped for dentures. I am looking for the right Drs. to do something MORE PERMANENT. My Drs., like yours, kept raising the dosage as I became tolerant. I was on it for almost 7 yrs. for Inflammatory Osteoarthritis head to toe, Fibromyalgia, & a 1981 accident that caused multiple fractures all over my body, inc. a smashed femur that lost length, bulging discs in my spine, broken hand bones, joints & fingers. I've had 17 surgeries in an attempt to correct my femur, knee, & other incorrectly healed fractures. 2 yrs.ago I had my 5th total knee replacement, w/ longer rods into my femur. I AM NOT TAKING OXYCONTIN ANYMORE AS I HAVE NO DOUBT IT CAUSED MY TOOTH LOSS !!!!! Several Dentists & Surgeons have confirmed it WAS the cause of my TOOTH LOSS.

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Re: angela castellani (# 8)

Please continue life in the direction that helps you with self confidence I have had same thing gone and life through my relationship with my God and as your God is always there for us in time of need God Bless

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I changed the way I eat and it changed my life. I am 63 and on NO Pharmacy meds anymore because I did 3 things. 1. I drink a organic mix of 80 percent vegetables and 20 percent fruit EVERYDAY. I blend them together and add 50 percent more water when I drink them. 2 I discovered a brilliant doctor named DR WALLACH who created a vitamin called BEYOND TANGY TANGERINE available only over the internet. It has 90 vitamins and minerals in a scoop of powder that you add to water and drink. I add it to my smoothies and I get all the nutrients my body needs to stay healthy. Easy to consume and filled with nutrition.My body has changed completely health wise. 3 I have removed all GMO products from my diet.Dr Wallach teaches that disease is a symptom of malnutrition. Add those 3 things to your daily diet and your health will completely change and you will be around for your kids in the future.

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Re: sunnyaz (# 12)

Yes care credit is currently my life saver. I too have had extreme bone loss due to prescribed hydrocodone and oxycodone. I'm loosing teeth faster than I can believe. What a load of crap that ANY doctor says they don't know of these side effects. DRY MOUTH is the BIGGEST issue with these prescription drugs. Add high blood pressure medication, antidepressants and antacids and you're pretty much screwed. How dare that one person insult you angela. How pathetic some humans are. Possibly off to that ignorant jerk

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Re: Verwon (# 1)

The nakers of oxy continue should have a scholarship/grant program for people that have been elected devistated by the use of this products .. from becoming addicted to them offering rehab because they faulsly stated that thier products were not habit formong thus doctors prescribing more and more month after month. Year after year leaving many of us faced with so many problems that they should have to offer some type of restitution or just in good coinchance since we have made them rich iver the years that's the least they could do !!!

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Re: Dr Love (# 759)

I heard about Dr. Wallach from my sister and her husband. They have taken the nutritional supplements for 2 years now. My sister had chronic pain and allergies that she had to get shots every year for her allergies. After taking the nutritional supplements for 90 days she no longer has to get shots or take pain medication. They have a grandson with ADHD and anger issues that lives with them. They have him taking the supplement vitamins daily and he does not need to take any medicine for his ADHD now and his grades and disposition at school have changed completely. They get repirts from teachers about what a wonderful student he is and a pleasure to have in class. His first 5 years of school no teacher ever said that but complained that he was disruptive and couldn't concentrate. I just started the nutritional vitamins and feel a difference in just 10 days. It gets costly to take everything so I take as much as I can afford and changed what I eat to healthier choices. Dr. Wallach teaches how taking the right nutrition can make you healthier and feel so much better. Thank you for posting the changes it has made for you.

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Re: Brandice (# 754)

I read your post as if it had been written BY ME! I'm absolutely serious! So much you've said also applies to me and your sentence, "I have no sense of who I was/am left." REALLY hit the spot with me as well. I hope that life gets better for you, just as I wish the same for everyone on this forum, but PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP and talk with someone (perhaps a professional) should those self-destructive thoughts come back or persist (I've been there too many times to count)!!! One of the few things that always kept me from following through is knowing just how MUCH HEARTACHE my action would cause my family and friends. Bless you, Brandice, and try to hang on there .... Sending you warm hugs, Christine

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Re: Marty (# 115)

Yes we all should get to ONE attorney. I have same problem. I have lost all my teeth but 3 i am so embarrassed i don't even talk much my ins. dont hardly pay for work to be done.

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Re: Lisa (# 756)

OMG, Lisa! And I thought I had it bad! Take care, sweetheart!

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Re: Angrunatelyy 65 year old (# 762)

OMG, Lisa! And I thought I had it bad! Take care, sweetheart!

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Yes, i had the same problem. I had perfect teeth & within a years time all my front teeth & most of the others were just gone from rotting & breaking off at the gumm line.

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I have total empathy for you big time.

I do think it's the way it is worded that may mislead. It states clearly that:

"May cause dry mouth"

I'm in the same boat, and it's like being stuck with only one oar, and going around in circles. I'm heartbroken having to wear a dental palette until I have saved enough to have proper implants done. The Pregabalin I take is another that damaged my teeth but because of the wording the suppliers or: pharmaceutical industry are covered.but I think it should maybe translate to:

"Does the intended job and kills pain, but May Cause Dry Mouth and total loss of self confidence as well as the loss of teeth and a once beautiful smile" (past tense)

I am saving every penny so I can get my smile back as well as staying pain free!

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Re: ksrmashadow (# 770)

I agree that the, "May cause dry mouth," is listed as a potential side effect NOW, but I know for a fact that it didn't appear way back in the early to mid-eighties when I first started taking them!!!
I believe that once it was discovered that dry mouth could, and WOULD cause tooth decay/loss as a result of their (and other) drug, they quietly slipped the warning in.
I finally had to have ALL of my teeth removed and am currently living the nightmare of a first-time full denture wearer! :(

That's how I feel about it!

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I have been taking 70mg of Oxycontin 2 times per day for 6 years and had no problems with my teeth.

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WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE ON WHY YOU WHERE PRESCRIBED THIS DRUG? SUCH AS CHEMO THERAPY PATIENCE...CHEMO HURTS YOUR TEETH NOT THE MEDICATION..

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Angela I can see you are a very honest person who got hit with very horrible horrible luck..its not fair what happened to you and that nobody is trying to help you. I will pray for you I swear. Hopefully our new president will do something to help people like yourself who nobody else will help. I thought I was screwed by not having health insurance but now I see my problems are very little compared to yours. I will pray for you I swear.

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