Oxycontin Damaged My Teeth (Page 37)

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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Hi Valerie, have you managed to get any help with your teeth yet? OMG I've got a back molar which has a nerve exposed right now, it's so painful, but I won't go anywhere through my own sheer disgust & embarrassment! This isn't the first painful tooth, some seemed to disintegrate, some incisors just snapped, I got to know the signs first I'd feel a ridge at the back of my tooth, I knew it was going to break soon & I was right! After they broke they seemed to rot away, I haven't looked in a mirror for years because of this! I've been through an entire page of dentists that won't help, then I collected a few numbers for no win no fee solicitors, but I wouldn't want to go to court, not that much exposure! I still turn the TV over every time an advert regarding teeth come on & Ive had people posting old pictures of me online, I'm laughing in all of them & my teeth were so beautiful, you know there's something they give to dogs Dentastix to make their teeth stronger, I have to switch over quickly! I've been reading a lot of rules regarding implants, apparently if you've had an accident they'll give you free implants but they need proof from the hospital that treated you! I feel terrible for those people but we were given a drug with no warning of tooth loss! I believe we have a case but I don't know where to start! My local dentist can do implants at £1500 0% Apr but for the amount of teeth I'd need I'd never be able to pay it back plus I'd get turned down as I'm unable to work because I can't walk! So I'm stuck between a rock & a hard place! I hope you get some good news soon Hun, really I do, wishing you well luv Don xxx

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Hi, I'm on high dosages of morphine and my teeth are rotten due to my meds. I'm trying to hold nhs England to account n hopefully get them to sort implants out for patients who've lost teeth due this issue.
I'm 41 and I hate even opening my mouth, it's so embarrassing and it makes me feel like I want to die of shame.

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So very sorry! Lupus sucks and I'm in the same position as you. What I hate is the metal taste in my mouth. I've lost so much weight that the semi permanent dentures are loose after a only a year. Your all in my thoughts

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Hello. I got the plastic. I still have a dry dull taste but I sure that's mainly all the meds (36 pills a day). You may want to check into the plastic and my Dentist have me come in once a yr, unless I have other issues and checks my gums (make sure I have no gum disease and how they are fitting for any adjustments. You may want to give yours a call. Good Luck.

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My Dr cut me straight off OxyContin & prior to that Dipipanone which I'd been on for years for instant pain, I've actually received a letter from the Dr claiming a side effect meant that my teeth could rot! Unfortunately it was too little to late! I've no confidence left, but I'm thinking of writing to my Dr asking for implants from the NHS! I'm scared of the answer though, I know there's those solicitors no win, no fee for malpractice! Again I don't want to be struck off from my Drs surgery! Although I'm not living my life! I've been stuck indoors for about 3 years now, I'm 52, I have no quality of life! There are so many commercials on TV either different toothpastes, mouth washes etc, one actually says if you don't gargle with a certain mouthwash if you have bleeding gums, it shows one tooth coming loose & ends up stating "You could be living your worse nightmare!" I've never had bleeding gums, I had beautiful teeth, they just rotted away! Apparently all opiates can cause this damage! I feel for all of you I really do as it is a living nightmare! I've given up on life! I'm so ashamed! xxx

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I rang 50 dentists none could nor would help, as I'm unable to work, I have to go with NHS dentists! Implants etc all fall under cosmetic surgery! From £1,500 up to £2000 per tooth it may be more now!

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I have had the same problem all I want is them to pay for implants its only right.

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I was litterally being killed by my old pain management doctor. The amount of oxycontin she had me on. I forced her to switch me off and started instead being prescribed. Oxymorphone HCL IR, and Opana ER. much more effective as well as the lesser of two evils as to damage to my body. Bad part is the effects of all the multiples of various Severe pain medications, having to now get testosterone injections due to the adverse side effects of mefications. Also after 13 straight continuously medicating, the teeth are now crumbling and loosen and serveral have broken and fallen out.

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It happened the same way my teeth showed no signs they just rotted from the inside out.

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I had no problem w/ OXY UNTIL they added a coating to prevent crushing. That coating upset stomach and began tooth chipping. Things in the stomach flow up the esophagus to your mouth. Damage is done but I will never use coated meds
ever again..which includes all meds marked as ED-extended release.
I get 3 medical journals and all three mentions problems w/. coating and tooth decay or chipping. I believe this because the journals were very respected.

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I also was told I must have been lying. Oxycontin manufacturers couldn't sell them if it caused tooth rot and loss! Well guess what? It does, and they knew then and know now... All about the Benjamins!!!

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Watch out.........................................................................................ok?

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I haven't posted in quite a few months (and, HEY, if you're still out there/following this thread, HI, MAILMAN!) due to the ongoing depression this issue has caused me as well as the increased responsibility I've had to take on due to my Mom's worsening dementia (which only helps to deepen my depression). That having been said, I recently had one of my two front teeth literally break in half so I can't smile at all anymore! And, shortly before that happened, the tooth three teeth behind that one literally broke off right at the gum line. I no longer have ANY lower molars so I can no longer chew, either, and the ONLY way I can try to chew at all is by using the one upper front tooth and the few lower front teeth I still have left! I know it won't be much longer before I completely lose my ability to eat anything that requires chewing unless I can find a dentist who's willing to help me out either pro bono or at a greatly reduced fee. Unfortunately, I don't think that's ever going to happen. Bless everyone who's going through this.... No fun and no hope, especially dreaming that big pharma will ever place our lives over their profits and step up to do THE RIGHT THING! Christine

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I just Happened to view the very first response to this forum's original post and what immediately came to my attention is the statement this response made, something to the effect that she had NO course of action against the pharmaceutical company (Purdue, in particular) because she, and others, accepted the risks..... in our case, our teeth rotting/falling out..... as it was warned in its patient instruction sheet. Actually, THAT'S NOT TRUE! Oh, perhaps it is now (dry mouth, etc.) However it most certainly was NOT included in the patient information literature when I, and MANY others, began taking their ridiculously HIGH DOSAGE prescriptions of opiates (again, and in particular, Purdue!) SO.... as far as I'm concerned, as it SHOULD BE in the legal community, PURDUE SHOULD STILL BE LIABLE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR TEETH!!!!

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I ABSOLUTELY FEEL YOUR PAIN, Don! God bless you and everyone on this forum who've lost, not only their teeth, ability to eat or smile, but their overall quality of life!!!

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I also took oxycontin for only 2 years due to sciatica. Now i have no teeth left!!! I think im going to sue the pharm responsible myself & see what happens. My dr. was giving me oxys like they were candy. I have sciatica again & now i cant get a script for any kind of pain meds!!! I had to go to a pain management dr. who also refused to give me any pain meds except for a few to last me until my next appt. with him. I had to have nerve ablation done on my back to stop the sciatica pain but i still have daily pain if i try & do any housework at all. Standing & washing dishes & vacuuming is the worst. I mostly just stay in bed most of the time now. I think we should all get together & bring a legal suit against the manufacturer of oxys. Anyone on board with me!?

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Hi, Nancy..... OMG!!! When I read your post it read like I could have written it myself! I, too, suffer from sciatica, as well as abdominal pain, and my pain management doctor is also planning to perform a nerve ablation which frankly scares me to death and I've already had four back surgeries, including a fusion. I had been on Oxycontin for more than ten years and, for the last few years, I was being prescribed 360mgs A DAY (3 30mg tabs 4 times a day!). Then, suddenly, my doctor got it in her head that I was selling my drugs and totally cut me off! WHY she got that idea, I have NO CLUE but in the end I couldn't find another PM doctor who would give me ANY of them much less the dosage I had been on for so long! Long story short, I was forced to go through withdrawal ALL BY MYSELF, no help whatsoever and not even support from my primary care physician! It wasn't until later, after I had made it through the withdrawal, that I found out that going through the withdrawal by myself could have killed me! It was bad enough that, like you and everyone on this forum, I had lost most all of my teeth, but to them have the medical community suddenly turn on me and turn their backs on me, too, the same ones who PRESCRIBED them to me, was devastating! So I know how you feel and what you're going through!

Nancy, I tried to organize the members of this forum in order to try and file suit against the big pharma (Perdue, in particular), but amazingly I couldn't get much cooperation even though I was the one willing to do all the leg work. So, I wish you luck in your endeavor, and I most certainly would join you but, as I've already experienced, you'll need to be able to get a lot more members involved than I was able to.

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Yes I have had the same problem the medicine has destroyed my teeth and I have always had perfect white teeth now they have just cracked and some have just came out of the root and it is so embarrassing I cant even think of smiling anymore and dating is totally out of the question.

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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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