Oxycontin Damaged My Teeth (Page 38)

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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Mr or Mrs. 'J': your cavalier attitude is not helpful. You obviously have not had pain so severe that you allow yourself to make judgements about "our" fault for not checking thoroughly. One tends to trust their physician and until this mouth problem happens to you, nothing in the literature given to me included that this OxyContin would eat my teeth from the inside out. So before you become so judgemental...walk a mile in someone's shoe that U have not worn. Lighten up.

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I took OxyContin in the lowest dose that made movements less painful. BUT when the FDA required Purdue to put an Impervious Coating so addicts couldn't crush and inject or inhale them...my trouble w/nausea and cracked teeth started. It's w/o a doubt the coating that caused my problems which weren't present in Oxy before the coating was added. Switched to low dose Morphine ER also coated. Same problem. So I believe these problems are all from the Impervious Coating. Lord know what's in it ....but whatever it is, it is responsible in my story.

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It should be noted, in addition to the FACT that Perdue did NOT include anything about dry mouth in their patient information literature (if you were lucky enough to actually receive one), that the dry mouth side effects have only recently been "advertised" as causing tooth decay, YES? Why, after SO MANY years of making, pushing and, in some cases, paying off doctors in order to increase the prescribing of Oxycontin and oxycodone, are we JUST NOW being informed of just what dry mouth really means to the patient? Why, instead, were they not just honest and why did they not just say "TOOTH DECAY" in their literature? Makes you wonder, huh?

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I would love to see a class action suit against the drug companies for not letting people know the damage it does to one's teeth. I always took great care of my teeth and in 1 year from seeing my dentist to returning all my teeth were rotting from the inside out and had to be pulled. Luckily I had dental insurance that paid for dentures but it cost over $3000.00 for oral surgery.
I don't understand why you can't find someone to help with a class action lawsuit when it comes to your teeth but if it had affected any other body part the attorneys jump all over it. There is a lot of emotional distress with losing your teeth due to the negligence of drug companies. It changes how you eat and many times your lifestyle due to lacking teeth. I had a dentist 16 years ago mess up 2 of my teeth and it cost me one tooth to be pulled and over $4000.00 to repair my teeth to look normal. It took me over a year to find an attorney willing to sue for damages on a dental case. I was able to get my money back but it was a nerve wrecking exhaustive process. That attorney was in Kansas City, MO. I want to say her name was Sherry DeJanes. I have no idea if she still practices law or takes dental cases.

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Hi Cristine , like you with your mother I have been dealing with my fathers cancer and some dementa. My mothers worsening health and now my younger brothers cancer and removal of large intestine and a bunch of other things that has increased my depression to about a unbearable point . But like you just keep on going because no other choice. Workmans Comp has stopped my therapy and not paying for some of my meds now after all these years . Sent me to a doctor for a opinion and wasn't what they wanted so just completely ignored it like it never happened. If there is one person that this doesn't shock it would be you because I am sure you seen it all at this point . I hope that things get better for your mother and you because I know you have been threw enough a long time ago ! I will try to check sight more so I don't miss any message from you ! You are in my prayers Christine! I wish only the best things in life for you ! The Mailman

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Christine, thanx for your reply. About the nerve ablation go ahead with it. My dr. was great. And it doesn't really hurt hardly at all. Look it up on youtube & it will show you everything you need. It really is not painful at all & the pain relief is great. I wish you the best.... Do you still have any of your teeth left?

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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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Glad to hear of your opinion but, in all actually, whether it's got a coating,, Oxycontin, or not, Oxycodone (those that do would be the long lasting/extended relief types) and any of its related meds, they're all STILL an opiate and no matter which one you've been prescribed, they're ALL going to, and we should ALL BEEN, WARNED as to their ability to ruin our teeth! THAT'S what y'all need to understand! And, once more, there's absolutely NOTHING your complaints, here, are going to do to help make Big Pharma to take responsibility and help us all regain our smiles and, in MANY cases like mine, eliminate our pain and restore ability to eat! Only ACTION will change our situations! That being said, bless you all.... Christine

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Angela, Verwon's posts were very good. Quite frankly, having a dry mouth is the real key and that can be caused by a hundred things including the Oxycontin. My heart goes out to you for what you're going through. I too have lost all but one tooth (6 fell out in just 1 day), so I know your pain quite well. I have a few suggestions although I don't know if they will help, but may be worth looking into. (1) There is a company called Affordable Dentures. They use local dentists all over the country. I looked at one of their ads briefly before writing this and they were offering same-day dentures for $325.00. I'm sure that's probably their lowest priced dentures, maybe not the most beautiful, but certainly better than not being able to smile. From checking with them before, they do mini-implants that supposedly help hold the dentures in place and the cost was not a lot. They mentioned on their ad that they will finance the dentures, etc on a zero interest rate basis. Maybe they would even work with you on the overall cost, I don't know. They can give you a cost estimate before you make the decision to do it or not. (2) There are fund-raising sites like Go Fund Me and Facebook is now offering that sort of thing. Essentially you go on the site and tell your story and set a goal for the amount you need to raise. Then you wait to see if anyone donates money toward that goal.

You said a lot in your post here that may go a long way on something like that (multiple surgeries etc) and I'm sure you have things you could add. (3) You said several times that you're poor. That could mean you barely have enough to get from one month to the next or it could mean you're homeless and living on the streets. Most counties have a social services agency that can either help you directly or can provide you with resources that may help you. Give that a shot. (4) Do you happen to attend a church? Churches are well-known for helping their members, or even just members of the community, with financial difficulties. I don't know how well the cost of dentures would fly in this type of situation, maybe not at all. But if you got help with some of your other bills, maybe that would open you up for being able to pay for the dentures. (5) Do you have medical or dental insurance? Sometimes they will cover at least a portion of the cost of dentures. The other thought I had was that perhaps medical insurance would cover at least a portion of the cost if you could show that your tooth loss was due to treatment for a medical condition. It may be worth checking into. I hope something I've provided here ends up being helpful to you and you'll be able to smile again! Praying for your success.

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I want to thank you Cristine, you have a heart of gold that always gives me some hope. You are always the type of person that never shy's away from working to help everyone on this site know what the goal should be. I have found that my pain levels don't go down, it's my tolerance levels that increase. I have a idea what you went threw with the pain when your doctor lied about you selling your meds. This doctor never really knew you or the type of woman you are or he would've never said that. I hope everyone on this site feels better!

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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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I feel for you on so many levels. My smile, or lack there of I must say, makes me sick to my stomach. I am on disability due to chronic pain and severe heart condition but now the biggest threat to my life is myself. I hate waking up. I wish I could fall asleep and never wake up. I have no sense of who I was/am left. I used to be so outgoing, did some modelling here and there and just loved going out with friends and dancing the night away. Then went to school to be an Lpn as my own health issues has always given me an interest and I love to make others happy. But now I don't even have enough pay for my rent half the time let alone the implants that I need. Even just the tops would make me happy. So I'm not such a freak. But all people do is look at you like oh you must have been or still are a meth addict. All of the above. I don't even drink and sometimes don't even take the full amount prescribed to me as I don't like the feeling of not being in complete control. I have begged all I can find for help. Does anyone else in Canada know of anywhere that could help me. Help all like me.

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Re: j (# 13)

"J" you are just cruel. Hope you are special because to call someone you don't know a druggy is highly irresponsible and down right rude. Hope you never have pain and need help and then I HOPE YOU GET NOTHING. You're rude Dude!!!

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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 have rarely heard a person spend so much time focussing on what others can do, or should do, or the law should require it be done differently to solve problems that are uniquely YOUR PROBLEMS. Most of the hardest problems in life we all face we didn't cause ourselves. There is absolutely no excuse for you not to be able to help yourself. The secret is to stop being broke. You are not poor. You are broke with a broken-down mentality. Extract yourself from the mentality of other people bailing you out and you will see you will need no bailing out. There is no one to help. We all have too much on our own plates and our own families to care for. You are a person who believes no one has it worse than you. If everyone lived in glass houses you would run right home and count your blessings after you saw what the real world deals with. If you spent more time listening to all the brilliant advice given on this site you would see you have the solutions. Broke people get in a place where they only have a certain group of resources and friends and doctors they listen to. They felt that is their lot. Change your friends, change everything. If not you will remain as you are. At the bottom. I would bet real money you only associate with people that are about as poor as you, as smart as you, and as negative about their outlook as well as yours as you. Change the input and the output will surprise you. Broke people get stuck because the people they have given credibility to will never tell them what they really need to hear. But now you have heard it from me. You no longer have an excuse ever again. The answers to your questions were clearly on this site. I have no idea where you are now or if you even survived. But hopefully another broke person will read this and get out of broke. Poor people are not broke. Poor people do amazing things with little resources and are positive about it. Broke people well... They are broke and nothing anyone says will be listened to. Your first post was disgusting and I am surprised it was allowed to be posted. You basically asked us all for money. And then continued to ask for money and criticize the exact people that spent their time to help you. Yes there were jerks that didn't say it in a nice way and should have been blocked as well. But you can have this resolved. YOU DONT WANT TO. I WAS HIT BY A SEMI TRUCK DRIVER THAT HAD JUST BLASTED OXY AND WAS DROOPY HEADED. I AM A QUADRAPALEGIC NOW. I LOST EVERYTHING. HE HAD NO INSURANCE AND WAS KILLED IN THE CRASH. I LOST MY ENTIRE FAMILY IN THE CRASH. 2 BOYS, 1 GIRL AND MY LOVELY WIFE. I HAD NO DISABILITY INSURANCE. I MADE MY LIVING WITH MY BACK AND HANDS. I HAD NO HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA. I HAD MY TEETH START TO FALL OUT EXACTLY 12 MONTHS AFTER OXY.

Oxy had saved my life and that was one of the steep payments for it. Today I have a mouth full of implants and a nice smile. I still take Oxy but oxycodone and a smaller and controlled dose. You are on more oxycontin than will suppress pain. Your doctor is the wrong one. Your level of Oxy is causing your pain at this point. This is a medical fact proven by the same families that are suing the family-owned pharma company that produces it. There is no protocol for the amount you are on. The highest amount known to ever show efficacy in any case regardless of tolerance or how many problems you may have is 3 60 mg oxycontin per day. That level would only be administered for up to 3 months after a major surgery. After that the maximum shown has been 3 40 mg oxycontin per day. You're taking way more than any non-government subsidized doctor would ever prescribe. If you had decent doctors they would never. So you take control. Lower your dose on a controlled basis and the pain will lower after 2 months of hell. 10 years after the fact I have one arm that decided to start working last year and my eyes and a machine to puff and blow to move me around. I cannot speak. But I can flip people off now. And that is my highest entertainment of the week. But I am not a quitter. I don't blame the man that hit us. I don't blame the drugs. I blame the way the world works. Stuff happens. Get a higher power in your life or something you can believe in and then find some friends that make way more money than you and shut up around them and learn to pull yourself up. I can use my legs, I cannot make love or urinate, I can't have a bowel movement yet my hips hurt extremely bad. I don't even use them. I can't even talk except through a pencil in this Joey board to you. I am happy and found ways to make money, found friends, found my heart wasn't broken and nor was my brain. I make my money not as a pretty model slobbering on my hoses. But in ways that I had no clue were possible. You will never be that person you were. Give it up, walk away and become a new person. YOU DONT NEED TEETH TO DO THAT. NONE. DO THAT AND YOU WILL HAVE YOUR TEETH.

My experience tells me, you don't want your teeth as bad as you say. You want your misery and the one up on anyone that tries to help. Well, I never respond to these, but read them as there is great advice and people on them. But for you, you got 3 hours of my pencil pecking time today and the original post is so old you are likely dead from the poor treatment your doctor has given you, letting you believe your pain is the worst pain ever experienced by anyone. Not his fault though. He is a broke doctor. If you spend your time with the same people you have already spent your time with and do the same things you have always done, you will always get the same result. In your case NO TEETH. Nobody says you have to have teeth to succeed. Teeth come later. Fix your health care team or learn more about it then and fix your treatments. But please don't tell anyone the phrase "single mom", that is the most disrespectful thing ever said about women. As if you need special assistance because your a single mom or if I had my kids I was a single dad. It's just life. It doesn't warrant any different approach to how anyone could advise you. It's just said to add to your drama. See if you can top my story. Few can. The surgeries you have had are hopeful ones. Ones where you have a chance of living. No surgeries of the 40 I have had were of that nature. Like let's make you poop in a bag forever until your dead. Let's hang your eyeball in a net so your eyes will track as your head was crushed. I won't tell you more as with your surgeries THEY DON'T MATTER. THATS YOUR OWN STRUGGLES AND YOU HAVE IT PRETTY DANG GOOD. YOU STINKING THINKING NEGATIVE ATTITUDE NEEDS FIXING. YOU NEED A MENTOR. FRIENDS THAT THINK DIFFERENT. REMEMBER, LISTEN, DONT TALK AS THEY WON'T STICK AROUND IF THEY HEAR YOU IN YOUR CURRENT STATE.

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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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Yes honey unfortunately those pills will rot your teeth ends anything morphine-based will I mean I I myself MN straight MS Contin morphine 90 mg three times a day and if I had known what it would do to my teeth by the time I was 31 I definitely would have chosen a different way to handle my chronic pain because my teeth are absolutely destroyed and yet we don't get any help because it was from medication that we were getting it's a side-effect so somehow that makes it our fault and then the government won't cover up your dental work anymore so I hear you I feel your pain I understand what you're going through

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