Oxycontin Damaged My Teeth (Page 5) (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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I had the same issue with oxycodone, I lost all my teeth in less than a year of being on this med. It sucks having more issues to deal with on top of severe chronic pain.

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My story is just about the same as yours. I went on OxyContin after having surgery. With in 2 yrs of being on oxycontin I lost all of my teeth. They rotted from the inside out. I did get dentures, but due to the fact that I can't wear them (the bone ridge in my mouth is to shallow), I eat very little. I have lost weight because, I eat a lot of ice cream and thing that don't have to don't chew. I'm so very unhappy now, that all I do is cry. I don't smile anymore. I don't go places with my husband, then he get mad at me. If I would have known that OxyContin was going to that my teeth, I would have never used it. There ought to be a warning om the bottle to let people about this, and give the choice, of not taking this drug or try another. I wish some one would start a class action suite against them.

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Whats so strange is how it seems to rot the teeth from within. Mine just began to crumble and fall apart in rather big pieces. I'm just wondering if this is the only I'll effects of this medicine. Also, I'm curious if the new formulation was the culprit? I started with the old wax matrix 80's, I didn't notice my problem during that time. It was only when I was forced by my pharmacy to make the switch. Noticed rightaway how less effective they are. Been unhappy since the conversion and less all my teeth. So, not only am I still in pain due to spinal problems but, teeth gone and govt. messing with dispensing of pain pills. I feel ####ed over. Would I have said no to Oxy if I had known? I really cant say, because they do help with my pain. Just wish I could eat a steak, damnit.

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Hi, I am so sorry u r going thru this. I've learned a lot from pasts. Myself being on legitimate meds for yrs may be the cause of problems I'm having with my mouth. After my Mom died I RECIEVED sum $. I went to Mexico to extremely qualified Dentists.They studied in Guadajhara Mx.U S & Germany. I got implants gum done root canals etc etc . I have been noticing my gums receding & getting infection for no apparent reason. I've been intending to contact manufactures in Germany ( zirconium) to my problem. As U know ,the meds keep u fatigued, pain,depressed, scattered motivation, & having every day situations making life harder. Hurricanes , plumbing, furnace & AC not working ,now 70 yrs old, so things r put off.So ur post enlighten me. I used Care Credit long time ago in LA ( daughters credit) must have good credit to get enuf $ for care, The dentist changed dentist after I paid cash to b knocked out & tooth was pulled out tat should not have. They stole my gold posts & left me in horrible pain after anathesia wore off. Care credit refunded their share but not stolen posts. These were a hi-fauluting office. I found an excellent one in an ethnic area that let me make payments & he worked on Sunday's! So lists r not always great & I found out they pay to b placed on top orders.Dental schools want $ also. Nothing is free or nominal anymore. But try calling Drs in area u may not live in. Many these Drs work there cz they care & want to help. Mine was Eygptian educated everywhere including US, Wife was frm Russia also a dentist. She saw me in tears in parking lot & asked wat wrong . Told her no $ etc. Had me come back in & things were tresolved. So go in person .Look in big fon books for coupons ( free offers r leads). Hope u can get help

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I wish I knew about this before half of my teeth were gone! But it's very hard to solve the problem after the fact. I'm happy for you that you knew about it and didn't have this issue I wouldn't wish it on anyone. But now I can't eat and am missing almost half my teeth. Doesn't really matter what I do now. I look like trash.

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I've been on slow release morphine & for a long time was on dipianone until the Drs worked out that the dipipanone was costing them around £1500 per month so they put me on OxyContin. I suffer from SLE, Srogrens Syndrome (which causes a very dry mouth & dry eyes too) I lost my first bottom tooth when I was 49, I cried when my dentist said it would cost between £1500-£2000 per tooth! I've also got something wrong with my back to the extent I can no longer walk anymore! The above drugs barely touch the pain although when I forget to take them, the pain is indescribable! My lovely GP left & the new Dr stopped my OxyContin, stating it could cause tooth decay! I had my answer why I'd now lost most of my teeth. I never asked for them in the first place. I too had beautiful teeth. I didn't drink tea, coffee, alcohol, nor carbonated drinks. I don't even smoke! I've been agoraphobic since my teeth have all broken! I can't work anymore because I'm unable to walk, so I can't afford implants, the thought of dentures fill me with dread! I'm sure because I wasn't warned this could happen someone is culpable? I brushed & flossed twice daily! I've even stopped going to hospital appointments as I can't bear people seeing me. Plus I see teeth everywhere, on TV not just on stars, on ordinary people, I see my old friends on social networking, still with their teeth. Toothpaste, mouthwash & toothbrush adverts kill me! I'm constantly reminded, sometimes people post an old picture up of me, I just stare at my beautiful teeth I once had! There must be something that can be done? I kept the GPS letter claiming the medication I'd been on can cause rotten teeth or tooth loss! I was never told about tooth loss even when I'd been diagnosed with Srogrens Syndrome which makes your mouth very dry, nor was I told when I was put on slow release morphine, dipipanone or OxyContin! Do I have a case to have my teeth replaced with implants?

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I couldn't agree more!! I would think we have a case too! I was never told that I'd be losing my teeth at 36 because of these meds I need to be on. Someone should be held accountable!

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Don you said EXACTLY what I'm going through! I talk to people on social media but don't want to leave the house due to my self awareness and embarrassment! I too have been on slow release MS Contin and was never told that there was a tooth loss or disintegration side effect! I had beautiful teeth, my parents payed for braces when I was younger and I was then in a serious car accident where my boyfriend was killed due to a drunk driver and I almost died as well! I survived after multiple surgeries and pins and rods in my joints, leg, knee and ankles and crushed my pelvis! I was told I would never walk and in hospital for 6 months to heal with many surgeries, then PT to learn to walk and put on these meds! I walked and was taken off them but always had pain, over the yrs getting worse and worse with arthritis, bulging, herniated discs and many other problems I won't get into! But I had to go on the meds again over the yrs and now I have lost my teeth, like they disintegrated and wore down and no warnings were ever told to me about these meds doing this! I think we all should get together and form a legal suit since obviously we all pretty much have had the same side effects! I am so scared to even start the process of getting the teeth I have pulled and the roots where the teeth have broken off ! I'm ALSO EMBARRASSED to even go to the dentist for the fear of being labeled or just have made myself afraid of life in general as well ! I really feel they should have had warnings with these meds and I have read the inserts on a lot of meds and it doesn't state it ! We all know the myth of a drug addict having bad teeth but I have brushed and done all the right things ! I was very pretty and had a nice smile and now I don't even have that ! They have things called 4 on 4 as far as dentures but they are permanent ! They put 2 posts in top and 2 on bottom to put the teeth in ! I am only 47 too looking at all the tooth commercials and every add at others teeth and getting more depressed ! We need to get together all of us ! I just moved to Albany ny area from NJ to be with my daughter and can't even find a pain doctor here to give me the little bit of meds I do take now ! Even with records of my injuries and U/A's and pill counts that were all fine from my doctor in NJ / which is A WHOLE OTHER UNFAIR PROBLEM A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOING THROUGH TOO! Because of the actions of certain people and doctors, those of us with legit pain have to suffer! So pain and no teeth makes a depressing combo! I hope someone will get back to me {edited for privacy}. GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS Don and everyone else on this forum! I totally understand! Love and friends Val xoxo BUT I WILL SIGN AND IM SURE YOU ALL WOULD TOO TO MAKE THESE COMPANIES HELP US! Thanks for reading Guys!

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I too had a change in OxyContin AFTER they put some coating on it. Not only did they not work as well BUT they made me nauseous and I now have three front teth that chipped off and a molar that cracked in half, losing the filling, 1/2 the tooth leaving an exposed nerve. I have used Sonicare and had nothing wrong w/ my teeth until the coating made my life miserable. I will need root canals and implants at a cost of $6000K. Purdue Pharma needs a class action suite.

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I definitely would agree to a signing to go after them for ruining Our teeth and making Us go through more issues on top of what We have. It is life threatening and I can't believe that They just don't take responsibility.

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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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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 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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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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my ex-husband informed me last nigth that his tooth loss was also due to taking pain meds for the last year..he says his doctor said it was due to the meds eating away at the enamel...that's why i looked this info up today...i thought that was a bunch of crap since he's been losing his teeth for the last 18 years...it may very well be a combo of things...poor dental hygiene was my main issue with him...his breath stunk so bad...no kissing was ever gonna happen....but i think it is primarily due to smoking...i'm no expert but smokers tend to have brown yucky teeth....he too is poor but apparently not too poor to afford cigarettes...i think if you really want to get your dentures...you can find 20-50 extra dollars per month and pay a dentist in advance...then when enough is paid..they will do the work...i had to do that for my grandma...around here, the univ of md dental school has a program that is supposed to be affodable...the health dept offers a list of dentists that take 30 percent off the bill...so even if it takes you a year to pay it in advance...at least it will get done...i'm not sure how long you have been without teeth..but my 76 year old friend was eating steak and burgers within a year of losing all of her teeth..she never did get dentures...i guess she just gums the stuff to death...can't be good for her digestion but it's been abt 8 years now and she appears to have no problems...and ick...she doesn't even brush her gums!...if your dentist hasn't told you to do so...do it...just like with babies...their gums need brushed before they even get teeth in...i really hope things get better for you and anyone else that has had this problem...i sure wish i looked god enough to model...you could probably get away with just a pout...

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I had the same proble and i can tell you that I webt to Pedro Negro On the border of texas and Mexico and had 27 crowns and bridges done for $2700.00 it would have cost me $27,000.00 to have it done here in the states. My teath now look beautiful and very white and should last a very long time fore 1/10 the cost of having done here in the states and the dentist did a very good job and I now love to smile instead of trying to hide my smile.

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PHN: yes, good idea. I can travel to UCSF, yet my undertanding main expense is lab, which may not get same discount as Dental school. I do encourage anyone who can to do that. It does save 30-40%, depending on service and evaluation is dirt cheap ($20 at UCSF)

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Angela,

I came across your postings as a result of searching for user comments by users of Oxycontin. The more I read, the more incredulous I became. This can't be happening to one person in one lifetime, I thought.

I'm very sorry that you've had to endure so much pain; I wish I could wave a magic wand and make it all go away for you. But I can't.

All I can offer you is some potentially useful information about dental restorations that would cost about one-third the price of what is typically charged. I live in Arizona and like a great many people here, my wife and I go to Nogales, Mexico to have our dental work done. We both have had some pretty involved dental work done, including root canals, gum surgery, crowns, implants, etc., with great results. The dentists in Mexico are all US-trained and their equipment is the same or better than anything I've seen in the US! They have patients from all over the US who fly into Tucson or Phoenix, stay for a few days or a week in a motel in Nogales, AZ, get their work done and go home. The husband of my ex-high school girlfriend from NJ needed a lot of work that they couldn't afford, so he finally came and had a whole mouth rebuilt in a week! And he got away from the snow as well.

If this is something that might work for you, let me know in a reply and we can figure out how to give you more details in a less public forum.

All the best.

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Yes,I'm on 80mg 4 times a day for the last 2 years.I've lost 3 molers so far,when I ask the doctors if this is from the drug,they all play dumb.My teeth are very hard,and I didn't have any of these problems before taking this poison.If I stop,I can't sleep for days because of the pain,it's a catch22,sorry about your health and your teeth,Darren.

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I've been reading several links regarding this drug and I've noticed that in each discussion someone has entered postings which are suggesting illegal buying or selling of this medication. I think these entries are being made by Federal Agents who are trying to entrap people who are online discussing this drug.

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