Medicines Can Cause Dental Problems
The elderly man’s front tooth bore tooth decay, a large black hole, which shocked the dentist completely. The man was taking medicine for his heart which he placed under his upper lip instead of under his tongue. These tablets created the hole in his tooth.
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. Doctors are unaware of these side effects or do not tell their patients about them, they further pointed out. You will find info on sedation dentist sydney by visiting that site.
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. He advises dentists to make careful observations of the medicines and to consider the side effects they may have.
Drug side effects, as presented by oral medicine specialists who taught at this week’s ADA meeting, include the following. Around 20% of those who take calcium channel blockers also have gum swelling. The inflammation opens pockets in the gums for bacteria to infiltrate, leading to massive swelling and serious gum disease. Some of these medicines are taken by most Americans.
This kind of swelling can also be seen as effects of anti epilepsy drugs and amphetamines. Cyclosporin, used by organ transplant recipients to prevent organ rejection, can cause an even more massive gum overgrowth. According to the dentist, its appearance can be mistaken for the inflammation caused by leukemia. You will find that further information on painless dentistry is on that site.
More than 400 drugs can cause a side effect known as dry mouth, which is apparent in radiation treatment patients. People who don’t have enough saliva in their mouths are susceptible to more dental problems like cavities and may need topical fluoride treatment.Calcium channel blockers can cause such big problems that the dentist would usually request for a change of prescription.
Otherwise, plaque buildup must be strictly monitored and the trips to the dentist have to be at least once every two months. You can avoid gum side effects if you just keep your mouth clean at all times, another dentist pointed out. There will be no problem if there is no plaque, he said.
He had in his possession of a Dilantin patient with extremly swollen gums. A patient who is on Dilantin is recommended to see a dentist in 10 days so that the condition can be minimized through treatment, he said. There are other things to be concerned about aside from prescription drugs. Full of sugar, over the counter lozenges and cough drops are also among the concerns of dentists.
For one woman, new cavities showing up almost every time was a problem.She did not eat sweets so much and brushed her teeth regularly, and this made dentists wonder.She later on admitted that she sucked on three packs of antacid a day.
