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Why Dentists Should Know About the Medicines You Take

By: Dorothyasd Hough

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The dentist had not expected at all tooth decay quite so large to be seen on the elderly man's front tooth. The man was taking medicine for his heart which he placed under his upper lip instead of under his tongue. These tablets ate away at his tooth, creating that big hole.

According to oral medicine experts, medicines such as vitamin C tablets and blood pressure pills may have serious bearing on dental problems of Americans. Patients suffer tooth decay and gum disease because their doctors either don't tell them these are the side effects of the medication or the doctors themselves have no clue.

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. Look carefully at them, think carefully about what they can do, he advises dentists.

Oral medicine specialists, who taught classes at this week's ADA meeting on recognizing drug side effects, said the top problems include the following facts. Up to 20 percent of patients taking calcium channel blockers for high blood pressure and heart disease suffer gum swelling. Gum swelling and disease come about through the infiltation of bacteria in the gums through pockets caused by inflammation. The commonly taken drugs are included in the list of medicines.

Swelling is the effect of certain drugs for epilepsy as well as amphetamines. Cyclosporin, used by organ transplant recipients to prevent organ rejection, can cause an even more massive gum overgrowth. Its appearance also can resemble the gum inflammation caused by leukemia, he warned.

Cancer patients experience dry mouth from radiation treatment, and dry mouth is a side effect of more than 400 drugs. Since saliva is important for a healthy mouth, lack of it would lead to many different kinds of dental infections. Calcium channel blockers can cause such big problems that the dentist would usually request for a change of prescription.

There has to be strict plaque control and frequent trips to the dentist otherwise. Another dentist said the gum side effects could be avoided provided the mouth is kept clean. There is no problem in plaque free mouth he said.

He had in his possession of a Dilantin patient with extremly swollen gums. He explained that any patient on Dilantin should get dental treatment from the dentist within 10 days to avoid bacterial infection. Prescription drugs are not the only sources of dental problems. Antacids, cough drops, and over the counter lozenges all contain sugar.

In one woman's case, cavities were always showing all throughout her mouth. Dentists were perplexed by her case because she claimed to always brush her teeth and did not eat sweets. Every day, the woman sucked on three packs of antacid, the dentist later on found out from his receptionist.

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