Oxycontin Damaged My Teeth (Page 15)

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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Yes, i understand your delimna with the rotten teeth. Six yrs. ago i had the most beautiful teeth. Now I'm left with 16 and half of them are broken off at the gum line and the other half are cracked and ready to break off. I always say I look like a "trailer trash crack hoe." Makes me laugh cause I know I'm not. Lol. The good thing is if you have insurance you can have them all pulled and never have to worry about cavities again. :) ♥ I'm getting mine done within the next month. WOOT!! WOOT!

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What kind of insurance do you have and how much of the work to be done will they pay for?

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I've been on various pain medications for the past several years. Some did not work at all while others had me staring at the wall all day without even touching the pain. My medication prescribed is a result of long term back problems (since age 16 [1993]) through multiple attempts through various professionals to help manage the pain without medication. Finally in late 2009 I found out that I had serious hip spurs and labral tears bilaterally - had surgery on both in April and the October of 2010 by an ortho surgeon that was not very experienced in performing the procedure I was in need of. Apparently, it was a very specialized surgery and my insurance company just set me up with the first surgeon that said he could do it w/o bothering to inspect his actual credentials. Fast forward, to a year and a half after L hip and a year after R hip surgeries were done and I was in worse pain than before, thus starting me on the medications as well as having me going through numerous IV's that did nothing at all. The surgeon had been prescribing vicodin and a muscle relaxant for a year or more. When I switched to pain management, that's when I was changed over to Oxycontin and Oxycodone. It didn't take very long for me to begin to notice problems with my teeth which, up until then had been just fine - got compliments on my smile constantly. What teeth are left now are all on the verge of disappearing, cracking off, etc. I can actually feel the inside (like the "guts") of many of my teeth. The only ones that haven't appeared to be touched are the three that I have crowns on. There is simply NO other explanation for this aside from the medication. I have been looking for others that are going through this to hopefully form a group and seek at attorney to fight this because I don't want floppy dentures that I have to worry about wiggling around or slipping around. I want teeth like I lost, I want my smile back. It's miserable when I have to either cover my mouth with my hand when I laugh, or avoid laughing/smiling/and sometimes talking all together because of the sheer embarrassment I feel. I am terrified of someone seeing the "stumps" that are remaining in most of the front part of my mouth. I am tired of not being able to eat normal meals because of the pain it causes or the fact that I simply have no way of chewing the food. What also complicates my issue is that I have TMJ, so in addition to the way my mouth hurts constantly, I have problems holding my jaw shut very tightly which completely exhausts my jaw muscles. I just want some normalcy back. I can't fix the TMJ until I have teeth to make the mouthpiece. I'm so frustrated, irritated, pi**ed off, etc. because I can't get anywhere. Dentists don't know how to charge health insurance, nor do oral surgeons. But since TMJ is a health problem, I can get some coverage through my health insurance in addition to using the small yearly allowance through dental insurance. But someone producing these medications needs to be held accountable for the failure to mention this as a potential issue. I'm fairly certain most, if not all of us would have loved to keep our smiles because they help ease the pain just a little on the rare occasions you're able to have one grace your face.

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Please contact me {edited for privacy} so we can all get together and get something done about this. So far, though, just about everyone who's been complaining about this situation HAS NOT contacted me so, to be honest, I'm quite disillusioned about getting anything whatsoever started unless people start contacting me so we can get organized! I hope you're not one of them and, if you're not, I'm very much looking forward to hearing from you!!! Thanks, Michele

Please note that this individual is not employed by or affiliated with RxChat.com. Any communication with them outside of this website is your own responsibility and RxChat.com will not be held liable for any information / communication / interactions exchanged.

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Please send me the info on teeth rotting from oxycodone chewing

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Yes it does. I had a back injury on the job in 2010, it is now 2014 and every one of my teeth broke so bad they had to be pulled. They would break while I was eating, even while I slept I would wake up to pieces of teeth in my mouth. I am 32 years old now and don't have a single tooth in my head. I got dentures through an agency called AV Hunters (they payed for my dentures in full), there are other agencies that do the same. You should check into that. I know how it is to walk around with no teeth and be accused of being a drug addict or get dirty looks, also eating was a nightmare. Hope this helps, wish you all the best.

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Christine ~

I sent you an email after I finally read the one from the admins here on how to contact you. Please look for it and get back to me.

Rick ~ You have to go back to a previous post and sent a message to the admins before you can get or share email addresses in order to get any info or contribute what you may know.

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I read an article in a doctors office about pain management and oxycontin and the company Purdue Pharmacuticals that manufactured in. Before the drug became available the company was worth around 2.4 million dollars and within 5 yr of the drug being on the market their net worth was 3.1 BILLION dollars. They were sued by familes of addicts or addicts themselves who were prescribed the drug and told it was not addictive. The legal suit claimed the manufacturer sold the drug knowing that it was addictive and basically lied. Purdue settled out of court for something like 600 million which would include all parties in the tort litigation and any future filers. Plus they get to continue selling the medication. The point is that there is money put away already to be paid out to anyone who can prove they became addicted and it affected their life in a negative Way. That was my understanding so maybe that would be something to look up and check out and get your teeth paid for.

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If there is anyone I can help in any way about loseing and broken teeth from the pain medicine oxycodone please send it to the Mailman . Christine is working to get all of you together as one by herself because I have had same problem with my teeth but all winter I had just became depressed and didn't do anything except feel sorry for myself and left Christine to do everything by herself and do feel terrible about that ! The one thing I know is if u are starting to have this problem try to talk to your doctor about dry mouth and what steps u can take to not let your mouth get dry ! I have a bottle of water with me all the time ! Even in bed if I wake during the night I drink water so it helps with the dryness ! This is not a medical fix for the problem it is just what I do to try to keep the few teeth I have left ! No doctor told me or anyone in the medical field ! This is only what I do and as far as I know water never hurt anyone . Please ask your doctor how to fight dry mouth and u will be doing what I was never told by the medicine company that makes oxy ! Mail delivered ! Mailman

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Hey Angela we have a whole lot in common after a disc rupture four years ago I was put on morphine and OxyContin and have about 5 good teeth left. I had a fusion surgery that was successful but I now suffer from chronic pain in my back and legs the reason for the meds. In colorado there is many programs for dental help I have had to research but found some places willing to help look up resources in your area. Please feel free to hit me up to chat.
Single disabled mom
Flora

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Barry.... contact the administrators of this site you can be given authorization to contact me. We are trying to get as many sufferers together so we can do something about it. Christine

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I have been onn opiates for 12 years now and in the past year mmy teeth started breaking and rotting. I went to the dentist after a molar broke and he shamed me for not taking better care of my teeth. my father was a dentist and up untill his death in 99 i had two checkups a year and took very good care of my teeth as we dont grow new ones. funny thing is i started tsking opiage based drugs the next year for a herniated disc only after injjections and physical thereapy faied to work. i too am too embarassed to go out to eat as i recently had a very bad experience at a dinner. my mmother passed away in november so my sisters and i got together for a last time since we live in different corners of the country. while we were eating we started to talk about dad and howe our teeth are doing now and whdn they saw my teeth they got sick. i am a smoker and even so i took pride in my teeth never using whitening products and such because dad always said they damage teeth. anyway to get to the point i was never warned by drs or pharmacists that theese meds wud rot my mouth so i started asking around and lo and behold apparently its quite well known now. i didn't join the groups that sued purdue because they didn't warn about addition or abuse and i am not the complaining type but i feel robbed since I'm loosing all my teeth, i livd on ssdi, have medicare , but i too cannot afford dentures or implants and I'm only 45 years old.I WAS ROBBED!!! Anyway i wud hope that anyone interested in calling me or texting or emainng me i have been talking to a few tort lawyers in the westchester n.y. area that i had the pleasure of working with before i became disabled and the suggested that i try to get as many people together as possible and if enough of us are serious we cud try to form a legal suit. we don't even need to live near eachother we just need a list of as many affected persons and be ready to provide documentation to be able to proceed. PLEASE TAKE MY OFFER SERIOUSLY. We were all robbed of a precious resource that we will never get back. Remember if you used illeagal street drugs that would probably be the cause. I am only interested in hearing from people properly using the medications for which they were prescibed.

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My teeth are rotting and breaking at the gum line since I have been taking oxcoytin help

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Since I've been on Oxycotin I've been plagued with dental issues. I've had most of the upper right hand side teeth which have cause the jaw bone to decay. This has cause sinus infections and numerous attempts to salvage teeth have failed.

This year, I've had to wear an appliance to stop sleep apnea.
I've just undergone over $30K of dental implants because the bone is decaying and causing additional health and eating issues.
A denture plate was tried, but as there are no teeth left to hold it in place, this failed.

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Contact the administration so you can be put in touch with me. I am attempting to put all of us sufferers in one place so we can communicate.

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This is exactly why the ones of us with chronic pain are being undertreated. People obtaining medication from their drs and then illegally selling them. It's just a matter of time before these criminals are caught and I hope it is very soon.

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I totally agree about the difference and problems changing from OC to OP. I had no idea what was happening to me when I started getting no relief from my meds which had been such a godsend for over five years. I realized later that I had been experiencing withdrawals from the medication's drastic loss in effectiveness! What made me so angry was the fact that I had no warning at all from my doctor, the FDA or Purdue Pharm. that the medication was being reformulated and I went through a nightmare for several months and still am. The medication after about 10 minutes of taking it cramps up my stomach and causes nausea. Yes I still take them because I am scared to get off of them until I can get my doctor to put me on something else which he is refusing to do. He says I will have to go to PM to make any changes. I really don't want to have to start all over with a new doctor after being with mine for over 25 years. I also don't know if they would make a change for me or just want to go another route such as physical therapy or something like that which I don't want to do after all these years of being on this treatment plan which did work very well until the reformulation of the pills. I think the fact that this medication was reformulated with no warnings to those of us taking it and the possible side effects we may suffer such as the nausea and cramping along with the withdrawal symptoms from the decrease in effectiveness from the plastic coating not allowing the pill to dissolve and release the medication in a timely manner should also be included in the lawsuit. I do think the FDA had a big role in the reformulation being done in the first place. I, along with all of you am spending lots of money on dental issues that should not be happening based on my history and only started after several years of being on the oxycontin.

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T K - Watch what you say until you know all the details. Only a coward kicks someone when they are down.

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i'm going through the same problems with my teeth, having been on oxy contin for about 5 years. it does mention in the leaflet that comes with the medication, that a rare, rare side effect is tooth decay, so don't know if that lets them off the hook?

i do find it annoying that my doctor and the specialist that recommended oxy contin seem very blaize about the whole issue, the specialist just suggesting i clean my teeth more fastidiously, which of course makes no difference if the teeth are decaying from the inside out.

i'd definitely be interested in joining forces to see if there's any chance we may get some compensation or paid for implants?

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I'm kind of having the same problem but I thought it might be caused by dry mouth which was a side effect of the oxy. I too had pretty perfect teeth before I started taking it and I have had 2 teeth pulled and need another pulled and a transplant. I am also very upset that this is happening and I also think my dentist of over 25 years with him was shocked too. Of course he doesn't know I that medication. I would like to look into this further. Thanks for the info. I thought it might be something like this but wasn't sure until seeing others with same issues. I am devastated by this!

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