The tooth decay the dentist found on the elderly man’s mouth was one highly unusual black hole on one of his front teeth. It turns out the man gagged on his heart medicine when he stuck the nitroglycerine tablets under his tongue where they’re supposed to go so instead he stuck them under his top lip. These tablets ate away at his tooth, creating that big hole.
[quote style=”3″]Hundreds of medicines that Americans take every day, from the country’s most popular blood pressure pills to chewable vitamin C tablets, can cause serious tooth decay and gum disease, oral medicine experts told the American Dental Association.[/quote]
According to the oral medicine experts, doctors might not have a clue that these dental side effects exist, and if they do know, they’re not telling.
A dentist and pharmacologist at the University of Buffalo pointed out the need for patients to reveal their medical history and medications to their dentists. He said they have to look very carefully at the medicines their patients take and think very carefully about the side effects.
Drug side effects, as presented by oral medicine specialists who taught at this week’s ADA meeting, include the following. Gum swelling is apparently suffered by 20% of patients who take calcium channel blockers for high blood pressure and heart disease. Gum disease and swelling are caused by the invasion of bacteria through the open pockets in gums brought by inflammation. Some of these medicines are taken by most Americans.
Drugs for epilepsy and drugs for child hyperactivity may also cause similar swellings. A more serious type of overgrowth of the gums is a side effect of cyclosporin, a drug used to prevent organ rejection. Inflammation caused by leukemia is similar in appearance.
A lot of drugs are responsible for causing dry mouth, which is also caused by radiation treatment. Since not enough saliva can pose as a dental problem for people, those who suffer from lack of it may need topical fluoride treatment. Problems may be so severe that the dentist would often ask doctors to change their prescription to another drug if
possible.
If not, then regular trips to the dentist are in order, as well as strict plaque control. Another dentist pointed out that a clean mouth is all you need to prevent gum side effects. If no plaque can be found in the mouth, then there’s nothing to worry about, he said.
He had in his possession of a Dilantin patient with extremely swollen gums. He stated that a patient who is taking Dilantin is recommended to consult the dentist in 10 days so that the gum pockets where bacteria lurks could be treated. Prescription drugs are not the only sources of dental problems. Aside from medicines, lozenges and cough drops could pose as a problem since they contain sugar.
Repeated occurrence of cavities was the problem of one woman. Dentists couldn’t understand why she had this condition when she brushed regularly and did not eat so many sweets. Later on, it was discovered by the receptionist that the woman was popping three packs of antacids into her mouth every day.