The elderly man’s front tooth bore tooth decay, a large black hole, which shocked the dentist completely. The man was not at comfortable sticking his heart medicine under his tongue, so he put it under his upper lip instead. These tablets ate away at his tooth, creating that big hole.
Oral medicine experts told the American Dental Association that much of the medication Americans take every day may be damaging to the condition of teeth and gums. Either doctors have no clue to these dental side effects or they don’t let their patients know, say the specialists.
Find out what the status of your patient’s general health is and what medicines he takes, a dentist and pharmacologist at the University of Buffalo advises other dentists. Ask yourselves how the tablets and pills you are looking at carefully may contribute to dental diseases, he advises dentists.
These facts are presented by oral medicine specialists who handled classes at this week’s ADA meeting. Gum swelling is a side effect of calcium channel blockers which can be seen in about 20% of the patients who take them. Gum disease and swelling are caused by the invasion of bacteria through the open pockets in gums brought by inflammation. Most Americans take a lot of the medicines included in the list.
Drugs for epilepsy and drugs for child hyperactivity may also cause similar swellings. Cyclosporin is a drug used to prevent organ rejection and this can cause massive gum overgrowth. Its appearance also can resemble the gum inflammation caused by leukemia, he warned.
Dry mouth, an apparent side effect of 400 drugs, is also a side effect of radiation treatment for cancer. Since not enough saliva can pose as a dental problem for people, those who suffer from lack of it may need topical fluoride treatment. The dentist would usually tell the patient’s doctor that if possible, he should change the calcium channel blockers prescription and switch it with another heart medicine.
If this cannot be done, then plaque buildup must be constantly controlled and trips should be scheduled every two months. Another dentist pointed out that a clean mouth is all you need to prevent gum side effects. As long as there’s no plaque, there’s nothing to worry about, he said.
Because of swollen gums, only the tips of the teeth of a Dilantin patient could be seen in the photograph he showed. He recommends that within 10 days, patients on Dilantin visit the dentist for treatment to minimize the condition. The problem is not just confined to prescription drugs. Aside from medicines, lozenges and cough drops could pose as a problem since they contain sugar.
He cited a woman who repeatedly had new cavities throughout her mouth. She said she brushed regularly and avoided sweets, leaving the dentists so perplexed. Then his receptionist spotted the woman popping pills, and she acknowledged she sucked on three packs of the antacid a day.
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