Oxycontin Damaged My Teeth (Page 33)

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, I could of written what you said verbatim. I have the exact problem, you mention tooth decay from inside out. this is exactly what I have been experiencing.

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Christine, I have worked in pain management for many years. I also am on oxycontin daily. I luckily have been able to reduce them myself. My pain Dr is happy for me. people out there who know nothing of chronic pain and state ignorant comments just really irritates me. For one thing, if your feeling euphoric from your pain medication then it's too strong or you're not really in pain. People who have chronic pain do not "feel high", it just works for the pain management.

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I have been an opioid addict for over 30 years. I have never had any one of those things cause me to have "dry mouth". Maybe I'm the exception to the rule, I don't know. I do know that this seems to be more of problem with people who are on prescribed full-agonist opioids in pill form, like oxys, morphine and vicodin, than with methadone. I am currently on 80 mgs of methadone, coming down from 90 mgs, and have been on higher doses than that in the past. I have never had "dry mouth" from it. Sorry, I just HAVEN'T. But if my stating this fact has caused you, P450METABOLIZER, to think I am "without empathy", well I don't know what to tell you. I guess that's YOUR problem. I only stated my experience. How dare you tell me I have no empathy! I am on these forums every flippin day helping people through my research, the information I gather from my doctor and my friends who are doctors, and my own experiences. So unless you have some specific post to back up your ludicrous accusations, I suggest you stick to the topics here and keep the judgment to yourself. You are on here telling others not to judge, and yet you are doing the same thing. If I offended any of you, or made any one of you on here feel bad by anything I wrote, I apologize. EXCEPT to P450METABOLIZER. I don't care in the least if I offend you.

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ABSOLUTELY, Susan! Those of us who are truly in pain neither look for nor do they experience any kind of" high" from their pain meds! As a matter of fact, I was given a medical marijuana card and it made me SO HIGH that I absolutely refused to buy any more! And, although I can admit that, even though I didn't want to use the card anymore, I found myself being deluged with requests from old friends (who had been following my stories of my difficulties with pain relief and hadn't heard from in quite sometime) who asked me if they could use MY MJ CARD since I wasn't going to be using it! I was absolutely flooded and, needless to say, I not only refused, but I deleted them from my friends list! That's JUST HOW MUCH I HATED FEELING "HIGH"! Believe it or not, and to this day, I continue to get emails or phone calls from some of these people asking me if I still have/renewed my MJ card! Unbelievable! So, and like I said, Susan, I totally understand where you're coming from and I, too, am ONLY LOOKING FOR PAIN RELIEF!

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You're right, kkh..... NO ONE should be judged, or feel like you're being judged. I'm NOT taking sides, mind you, just want you to know that I understand how you feel and the best advice I can possibly give you, moving forward and if it should ever happen again, is to save yourself some grief and (if you're able) try and simply disregard it. Wishing you, and every other one in pain, the very best possible! Christine

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Sometime ago i.had posted to some attorney s making inquires about steroid treatment the same question your asking.I had teeth until after 5 or 6 years of oxytocin. I too was prescribed 2x80s=160 twice daily plus percocett.I suddenly had about 8 all molars up and down just disengrate..I was pulling big pieces of teeth. Out...i.wondered the same thing could it of been from steroid treatment also.I was told they had not herd of any...luckily due to insurance change I made switch to mscontin..much better medication. .your entire body doesn't feel drained,and need a fix like the oxytocin. ..very glad to be off rhat..

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Im NOT a doctor but I am on a chronic pain management routine, for severe nerve damage, a broken and deteriorating ankle joint, brutal osteo-arthritis and tendonitis, and im coming on 20 years pretty quick. I personally think "DRY MOUTH" is pretty much only caused by tablets/pills/etc and NOT from other Pain meds like Methadone due to it being a liquid, just my own guess. Again Im no DR but it kinda seems common sense to me?? And as for feeling "High" or "Euphoric" from Pain meds, those happy feelings pretty much only happen in the beginning and gradually fade away more and more as time passes and the user's nerve receptors slowly either disappear or they become stunted/numb and dont accept or react to the stimuli which the pain meds create any longer. I noticed over time a big change in how I felt and experienced my Pain meds and wondered why those feelings faded away. Raising dosages will work for a bit but not to long, and changing the opiate meds also works for a bit to but will also eventually give in the same as all the other meds. Human beings were not created/designed/built to experience certain things repeatedly like taking Pain meds for decades, and feeling "high" or "euphoric" everyday for decades from them. Of course that isnt to say some medical scientist wont invent some meds that do exactly that!!! Also anybody upset that they dont feel high or euphoric from their pain meds anymore after long term use, is taking their pain meds for the EXACT OPPOSITE AND WRONG REASONS. ONLY PEOPLE SUFFERING REAL, HONEST, TRUE SEVERE CHRONIC PAIN CARE ABOUT IS ANY LEVEL OF RELIEF FROM THEIR CHRONIC PAIN, WE DONT CARE ONE DAMN LITTLE BIT ABOUT FEELING HIGH OR EUPHORIC, PERIOD.

Opiate Pain Meds are for PAIN. A person that wants their pain meds to act differently needs to quit Opiate pain meds instead of wasting their doctors time, their family/friends, their coworkers and everybody else's TIME, Including their OWN time and STOP lying about why they need and take Opiate Pain Meds. Instead they need to be honest. This would be very helpful to all of us REAL HONEST Chronic Pain sufferers as this would weed out all the lying corrupt scumbag wastecases and end all the senseless and horribly STUPID overdosing that happens everyday by all those Time-Wasting, Lying Twits everywhere!!!! Except for the ignorant and naive people that overdose and who jumped in way over their heads. Sadly those twits will continue to drop as our world hasn't seemed to pass on an Evolved Stupidity gene to every new generation. Imagine humanities future IF we could do this!!!!

NOW Back to the other issue being discussed which is Tooth Rot etc. Dry mouth does enable Tooth Rot IF not remedied and/or the user's diet and teeth management are both, well, S***ty, then it will definitely add to Teeth Rot. The question I have though is - Besides a bad diet and bad teeth management, there must also be something with certain Opiate Pain Meds that does help cause horrible tooth rot and eventual loss of some or all a person's teeth??? I've seen massive amounts of people that All have major teeth rot, confirm they are also taking opiate pain meds to there NOT being something to the connection between the two?? I dont know what it is but thousands and thousands of people all suffering incredible damage to their teeth that all take Opiate pain meds, and from every corner of our world CANNOT ALL be either lying or making stuff up. (That would be the world's biggest conspiracy which is obviously total bs and wouldnt happen). There is a major connection, and the person that figures it out could make one mega pile of money and their product/invention would be in constant demand!! Hhmmm lol.

ANY IDEAS?? FACTS?? OPINIONS?? ETC?? There's tons of us desperate for a solution that DOESN'T require thousands of dollars in dental fees and a huge amount of hours sitting in a dentist's chair and feeling extremely ill-confident and depressed about our smiles/teeth etc. IF you got the answer now's your time to reveal it to all of us!!!! ASAP Please !!!

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I've been a dental assistant for 36 years. Drugs legal or illegal will dry your mouth out. Saliva washes your teeth continuously. When saliva production is slowed or depleted YOU MUST DRINK PLENTY OF WATER AND BRUSH YOUR TEETH SEVAL TIMES A DAY!!! Brushing once or twice a day will not preserve the enamel. Brush at least 5-6 times a day and floss once or twice. Use fluoride paste or rinse, ask your DDS or MD for prescription fluoride if not available in your drinking water. People only loose the teeth they do not care for.

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Your wrong.there could be underlying medical reason s,.your just wrong....stick to assisting. .

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MONTBLANC: You are telling someone who has been doing dental work for 36 years that they are "wrong" about dental issues? Really? Maybe it is YOU who should stick to what you know, because you are only succeeded in sounding like a self-righteous jerk right now.

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ITS one thing to say that you dont agree with somebody, its another thing to say you dont agree and also fail to list any reasoning why. A person thats worked 36 years in ANY field of work obviously knows a hellva lot about their field, and probly alot more then they actually realize. She listed multiple points to back up her statement, whereas you listed Zero. IF you're going to claim somebody's comment is totally wrong then at the very least you need to explain why and also back up your claims with some kind of factual info.

This forum is NOT for people that only post their opinions and dont post any solid facts to cement those opinons. Many people visit these forums to learn, get advice, and/or look for factual info about their medical issues. IF every post they read only had people's opinions, this site/forum would be pretty much useless and wouldnt have anywhere near the traffic it sees everyday.

The woman that posted has 36 years in her field, she posted multiple facts to back her opinions and claims up and her comment is very useful for anybody looking for info etc about that topic which is exactly what this forum is about. Now its your turn to post some solid factual info to show why she's wrong, and you're right, as you're claiming. I'm interested to see what you have to say......

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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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MONTBLANC: And by the way, it's YOU'RE, not YOUR. If you are going to attempt to insult someone, it is usually more effective to at least know how to spell.

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Is there an option to help? I have heard of Biotene? Do you recommend it? I must do something immediately.

Thank you,

Susan

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Yes i think they do speed up the decaying of your teeth. I am taking the same meds and have had the same outcome as you have. I never had a bad tooth till i started 5 years ago. now it's nothing for one to just break off or fall out. I am lucky enough to have gotten dentures now but they are nothing like your real teeth ...hold your head up and move forward.

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I have the same problem after having a complete A lumbar laminectomy I've had to use 3/60 mg oxycontins a day along with oxycodone..It's been a while although surgery was just last summer ..Good luck I'm in more pain now than before the surgery.. Now my doctor after all these yrs.for no reason discharged from monthly care . He was my PCP for almost 18 yrs...What a guy what do I do now...?

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Lou,

I also experienced the same nightmare reality of losing my personal GP and it sucked having to find another doctor. Finding another doctor is one thing, but finding another doctor with the same level of compassion, understanding, education, experience and above all else, with the same attitude about prescribing opiates for chronic pain management. So many physicians today have been scared off by all the problems created by those that abuse opiates, they just don't want to deal with it at all. Then you have the ones that have a major attitude towards opiates and look down on anybody without cancer taking them. So many doctors today think they know all there is to know about chronic pain and think their treatment methods are the correct ones. But in actual reality they know jack squat about chronic pain, they just like to power trip over patients because so many of them think they are always right and above their patients regarding anything in healthcare.

The GP I ended up with has wrote my prescription for over 2+ years now, with no problems, no troubles for him whatsoever, no issues at all yet the other day he said due to new opiate prescribing guidelines he wants me to switch to Methadone and stop taking the tablets ive taken for 14 years or so, even though ive never asked him to raise my dosage or amount of tablets, ive done everything he's ever asked of me, including multiple drug panels for recreational drugs, etc and ive always been forthcoming with anything he's asked me and ive always said yes to any other treatments he's asked me to try. But STILL he is going to try and change my very very successful, completely routine, very positive treatment for chronic nerve pain and very painful osteo-arthritis and tendonitis. So some higher level doctors send out some new guidelines regarding opiate prescribing, and boom my doctor decides to screw my life up after many extremely painful years trying everything under the sun for pain management and just when im doing awesome for about 4-5 years now, boom they gotta screw with me and throw a big curve ball at me which for all those suffering from chronic pain who have finally found a very successful treatment routine, is a living hell of a nightmare. Some doctors get together and blanket bomb and generalize tons of opiate using patients and treat them all like lowlife addicts who cause tons of problems when its actually a small percentage of patients along with tons of people NOT prescribed opiates that are really causing the problems etc. Yet I get screwed over by a non-loyal doctor whose attitude is bs and who like so many other doctors thinks he is right and his patients are ****s that know nothing. Its disgusting and disgraceful, and I hope they can be sued for causing these problems for honest, real true patients that do suffer and do follow the rules properly, because this generalizing is sickening and wrong big time.

IF you're looking for another doctor I would suggest seeing a pain clinic doctor and ask them who can help you as they know which doctors are compassionate and understanding of those with chronic pain and who will prescribe pain meds. Having to change doctors sucks, especially when your doctor is exactly who you need to be with.......hope this helps a little, and the rant was just to let you know you're not alone having issues!!! I am too now it seems.....sucks. If I can help I will, feel free to message me anytime....

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I've had FOUR back surgeries, my last one having been a fusion, and all was going relatively well until fell about two weeks ago and, since then, my back pain has been absolutely excruciating! I'm already taking Oxycodone for abdominal pain but it's not coming close to reducing the back pain! Does anyone have a suggestion for an effective OTC back pain medication? OR, is it at all possible that I might have actually damaged my back (AGAIN!) And, if so, now what? THANKS, CHRISTINE

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Hello Christine,

IF you've been taking pain medications for your abdominal pain but its not helping your back pain, and your back is still really hurting you then YES go see your doctor ASAP and get checked out. Opiate pain meds are very powerful and depending on what dosage you're taking, they should be giving you some type of relief from pain. Have you tried any muscle relaxers? Like ROBAXACET Platinum, extra strength, normal strength etc?? IF you're in that much pain then it's more than likely your back has something still wrong with it or it's taking its time healing up in which case you should be doing some form of rehab treatments or just relaxing until you're able to start moving more without as much pain. BEST thing to do is go see your doctor and IF you don't accept what they say then go get a second opinion, but definitely go see your doctor and get checked out to be on the safe side. I hope you get relief very soon!!! Anything else I can help with feel free to message me...... Cheers

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