Is there any documented proof that either methadone or methadose is the cause of excessive tooth damage or decay.Through sources quite a few patients complain that they have acquired severe tooth decay since seeking help through methadone clinics?.
Does Methadone / Methadose use cause tooth decay?
Question posted by Little52 on 8 May 2006
Last updated on 17 June 2022
Answers Page 2
I have been taking methadone for 10 years, 40 mg. a day, for a spinal cord injury. This last year my teeth have really started to just fall apart. Literally. It makes sense when you think about it since it cases dry mouth, which leads to decay. I wish someone would have told me about this when I began taking it. Now I am looking at a LOT of dental work, possibly implants, which can run upwards of $20,000. I don't know where I'll get that kind of money, being on disability for 10 years. But dentures at 41 doesn't sound all that great. So hopefully I can find some sort of program, or study or SOMETHING.
I'm not sure how long ago you wrote this, but I hope I can offer you some support. First of all, try dentures at 36! I'm 38 now. After years of opiate abuse, methadone saved my life (just MY personal experience). I've been on it for over 10 years and recently finally decided to get off of it. Anyway, I have always had tooth issues-even as a kid. But, no one else in my fam has tooth problems. I got to the point where I had all my back teeth broken down to the gumline and most of my front teeth broken and or rotted out. Needless to say, my already low self esteem was even lower with this horrible "yuck mouth" appearance. I finally got help from my parents AND there just happened to be a low cost denture clinic in the town they lived in. LOL-apparently there aren't many people with their own teeth in my hometown. Yes, my parents paid for everything (the pulling of the teeth was the most expensive part), but having my smile back helped me so much.
The total for everything (pulling of 17 teeth and high quality dentures) was only $1500. My point to this long winded story (sorry, I'm a talker) is to look into clinics that specialize in dentures. I doubt I helped you, but please know that there are people out there that are in a similar situation and understand. Let me know if you want more info and I will email you. Good luck!
Hi, as a certified dental assistant and on 100 mg of methadone per day I can tell you this causes tooth decay... The Dr I work for knows the meds I am on, i was hit by an oil tanker truck which crushed my back..We have compared my xrays from 5 yrs ago and the enamel level in my front 2 teeth my centrals have declined by 80 %. There is a law suit starting and will keep you in mind.
I have been on Percocet and Methadone, not to mention Morphine and Demerol for the past 15 years. Currently on Percocet and Methadone for pain caused from rupturing the same disc in my lower back twice and having to have surgery both times leaving me with nerve damage that causes my buttocks to have a sharp, stabbing pain that runs from it all the way down each of my legs and into my feet where I have extreme burning pain and numbness that drives me insane. At times I feel as if I am walking on hot coals and I will go and stand in the bath tub and let freezing cold water run on my feet for as long as I can stand it just to get a little bit of relief. I also take Neurontin for this burning pain, but NOTHING seems to help. Any way, my question is about my teeth. The last 8 months or so, my teeth have literally been falling apart and a couple of them have even fell out of my mouth leaving a ring around the gumline. I am so embarassed that I won't even go out in public anymore.
I am on Medicaid, but they won't pay to see a dentist, all they will cover is dentures and I am not sure if that covers having your remaining teeth removed or not. If I have to pay for any of it, I won't be able to have it done. Also, I have had trouble with being able to deaden my teeth when I do have dental work done and my dentist told me that I needed to be hospitalized to have teeth pulled or cut out, etc. I don't know if Medicaid will cover hospitalization for having teeth pulled for dentures or not either. I know they pay all dental work for children, but if you are over 21, it is totally different and only dentures are covered. If anyone knows the answers to any of these questions, please let me know.
Also, someone mentioned the possibility of a suit being filed against the makers of methadone or other opiates that may cause this tooth loss. If anyone has anymore info on this, please let me know about it. I just want to have something done with my teeth so I am not so embarassed to be seen in public and I have no money to pay for it on my own and my credit is too bad to be able to get anything financed. I sit here now and cry because I am so upset over my teeth. I had ugly teeth as it was do to large spaces between my front teeth and my whole life I kept my hand in front of my mouth when I talked because I was ashamed. Kids used to make fun of me and it's just not something you do to a child. Believe me, it follows you throughout your entire life and now for my teeth to be rotting out right in front of my eyes and with nothing I can do about it, it just makes me feel sick to my stomach. I'm overweight do to a lack of exercise caused by my pain in my back, legs and feet, not to mention that both of my knees have also been replaced and I can't do nearly as much anymore do to that.
I feel as if my entire life has just gone done the drain and it's just not fair. I am 52 years old and I feel as if I am 92. I stay depressed all the time and I just want my life back again. I'm sick of hiding out in my bedroom day in and day out due to my ugly teeth and fat body that I don't want people to see. I have been overweight for several years now, but never to the point I am at now and it is really bringing me down. If anyone has any suggestions or helpful hints, please let me know. I appreciate anyone's help, even though I feel bad about having to ask for it. I never used to be so weak. I was always a strong person, but not anymore. I have 4 grandchildren who need their grandmother and I want to be there for them. I want to have energy again and I want to look good again and feel good again. Any comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all!
I'm not sure how long ago this was posted... but try dentures at 24!!! My teeth got so bad they would just break off and you could take your fingers and rub the tooth back and forth and it would just turn to dust. I was told that methadone does cause decay due to the fact that the liquid form is sugar-based, it causes dry mouth, and the next 2 are all on who you ask... methadone gets in your bones, and your teeth are bones, and supposedly methadone lowers calcium levels. The tell-tale sign for everybody I know is the hole (cavity) starts to form at the gumline. Hope this was helpful.
I am in the exact situation and my personal details are almost identical to yours. It's really uncanny the similarities. You know, it was depressing enough to have to live with chronic pain and the exorbitant amount I have to pay ($450.00) EACH month for my pain doctor and medication. But when you add to it- losing almost all of my teeth, in my early forties and not being able to afford to do anything about it because every spare penny I have is dedicated to paying a doctor each month to treat my pain just so I can keep living and I have really begun to feel hopeless. I can barely eat and it is so embarassing that I rarely ever leave my home except to go to my doctor visits. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that I am able to be treated with Methadone because it is the only pain medication that has ever really worked and that doesn't wear off so quickly. In fact without it, I would not even be able to walk.
The only real complaints I have are that it has destroyed my teeth and I have absolutely no energy at all when taking it. But anyone who has severe and chronic pain knows that treating your pain with some level of effectiveness is always at the top of your list of needs and wants because without adequate pain relief you have no quality of life whatsoever. Not to mention, you are of no real help to anyone else when you are suffering terribly. My heart truly goes out to all of you who find yourselves in this same situation. I continue to pray it will not always be like this for people in chronic pain, that we won't always be forced to contend with substandard and costly medical treatment, forced to let other serious medical conditions go untreated just so we can afford to treat that condition which screams the loudest with pain. I hope those of us, who have had to deal with sacrificing our dental health( teeth and gums) for some level of pain relief, do not end up paying an even greater price by developing more serious health conditions such as "infected heart valves" and other heart problems which can be caused by poor dental health.
If those of you reading this have any possibly helpful information, references, or suggestions you can offer, please do. It will be greatly appreciated by those of us dealing with these problems. Thanks so much.
I live in Seattle also and take approx. 80 mg. daily for chronic pain myself and have had problems with teeth breakage, in the back thank God, as I am a woman and very vain, but i know what you mean about not being able to afford dental work. It's ridiculous and now we don't even have the option of U of W students working on our mouths. There ARE dentists out there that will do what they can for you and take payments, it's just a matter of finding one and there are also a couple of ins. programs that are very inexpensive and will pay for 50% of some of the bigger procedures, varying %'s on different things you need done. I have often thought of just writing to one of the Hollywood dentists we see doing things for free on television and trying to get some help from one of them. No kidding. Anyway, just wanted you to know that you're not alone and I too am on SSI so know i won't be getting 20K worth of implants without a lottery win.
But do check into various dentists and maybe the ins. programs, they run about $7 a mo. and any help is better than none. Also, it's possible to get partials depending on where your tooth damage is and i know of a couple of girlfriends that have gotten them and looked WONDERFUL!, much better than even when their regular teeth were good, so good luck to you and start checking around, i know that you can at least get your needed work done by getting on a list at Salvation Army and also, there is a dental place in Kent or Auburn that you can get work done if you go and wait there, so if having pain and no money, make some calls, i'm sure there's something in the north end also. DSHS may know of some places that will do sliding scale. I have 2 bad on left side and 1 on right and as soon as the right one got better, the two left started aching, trying antibiotics and liquid orajel in the bottle (yellow stuff) is pretty good for numbing the pain. We know our methadone doesn't help it! Take Care.
p.s. There are clinical studies, i don't know of any so far for teeth, but check w/Summit Research and see if they know of any, if so, let me know!
One more thing: I just read the post before mine and i also have a mitral valve murmur. At my last appt. my blood work showed that my heart has inflammation around it and I am pretty sure it is due to bacteria getting through these bad teeth and into that mitral valve, as I am supposed to take antibiotics prior to having and invasive dental work done. Yes, we need help with this stuff and Medicare could care less i guess, but supposedly, if anyone is on it as I am, there are certain situations in which dental work can be done if it is affecting another part of your body that would ordinarily be covered. Like you HEART? I don't know how tuff it is to get this done, but i guess i'd best start finding out and will keep all informed of what i learn.
I have been taking methadone for about 8 years and I know what u mean about the teeth thing. When I started treatment my teeth where in good shape and now I have yuck mouth its awful and im just 30 yrs old most of my teeth have rot and the ones that don't hurt so im going the inplant route.Its kind of expensive but I found A solution in the form of payment plan.
I am 45 yrs old and I just had all my bottom teeth pulled out due to being on morphine, MsCotin, vicodin, etc. I had terrible issues with dry mouth and my teeth literally rotted from the inside out. It only took 3-years, I'd say. When my husband and I got married I took full advantage of his dental insurance. In our 10 years together, I was able to get my top front teeth covered with porcelin vaneers, then I had missing back teeth so they replaced those with permanent bridges. So, it looks like I have all my top teeth. I wonder if thats the reason why my top teeth were not affected, I don't know. But, I am mortified at having to wear lower dentures. Its only been 3wks and I hope it gets better. I know I have to allow the swelling to go down to get the plate relined..but wow, I hate them. I valued my smile, my smile has gotten me many compliments throughout the years. It broke my heart to have to have them all pulled out. Not to mention painful, they were breaking off.
I ended up having to get most cut out and my gums stiched. I'm still getting sore spots, only to find pieces of bone or tooth fragments. But, what can ya do? We do what we can with what we have, right? Heck, none of us asked for chronic pain either. I know I sound so ungrateful and I apologize. I am glad I at least had Dental insurance to help with the cost of the extractions and plate. It was $560.00 total. But, I hope and pray I can one day get permanent bottoms screwed in... I can't even imagine the cost. But, for now I am dealing with a cheating husband who walked out on me for a 25 year old bimbo. Only for him to leave her preggers four months later. Then he desided to quit his job, which caused me to loose my Health, Dental, and vision insurance. Thank God, he clicked his heals and moved back to Kansas. I am a talker, so thank you for allowing me to vent and to share my story. Just my Penny's worth.
omg; the same thing has happened to me. first one of my front teeth and now all the back; i had a great smile 6 years ago and now i have to think about dentures in my mid 40's; how sad!! wish someone could have said something or given an alternative. now its one bad deal on top of chronic pain. and tooth pain hurts an awful lot too!!!
Well, it's 4 years later. The tooth loss continued to the point where I had to have most of my teeth pulled and am now wearing dentures. It's nice to have my smile back. Dentures are no picnic, but there are worse things. You can get used to just about anything over time. Except this neverending pain... thank God for methadone, too bad you have to trade your teeth for it.
Interesting I just left the dental office because within the last 12 mos. A chipped tooth has turned into only a partial tooth remains. All of my front teeth have decayed and I to have been on the same medication for 10years, and I emphasize only that specific medication. I do not. take or have not taken any other medication during this time period. Surely the doctors and/or so called counselors knew something like this could happen.
I hope this will help you. Colleges that have dental programs usually charge less because the students have to practice. I know it sounds scared but my mom, sister,, and niece have all had work at university of Michigan and have nothing but good experiences. Good luck!
Thank you for the info. If you hear of any lawsuit, please let us all know. I never had dental decay (black) until I started taking hydrocodone for my knees. Now I will not even smile... and I had a beautiful smile! I want them to pay for repair of my teeth!
I am in your exact situation ie on it as a paraplegic. Read my response further back
After 8 years plus with 10mg 6 times per day my only issue is lack of pain control. No teeth problems. Other than one I broke years ago eating Crunch and Munch and NO dry mouth. But I do chew sugar free gum though out my day. A life long habit. Have had only 4 cavities my entire life. But I brush and floss 3+ times per day. Even at the office. I was always concerned about possibly offending patients so was super careful about oral hygiene. My sister in law--no meds took amazing care of her mouth but her teeth are a nightmare. Often it is the type of bacteria you make. I make the kind that promotes plaque build up/not cavities. She gets cavities despite all her hard work and care. I brush with both baking soda and toothpaste plus my dentist. So far at 65 I am doing well after 40 years now of one type of pain medication or another. (Truck got me!) Bets to all.
I am not sure if it is a documented thing, but it is well known among those who use it, or think about using it. If you check around the internet, you will find many sites with people having dental problems, not just from using Methadone, but from anyone who uses narcotics of any type for a long period of time.
They tend to leech some of the calcium out of your body which weakens your teeth, plus the dry mouth that these meds tend to cause, promotes tooth decay. Your saliva is actually a big help in preventing tooth decay since when you eat or drink, it helps to wash away some of the substances that cause dental damage, so whenever you have meds that cause severe dry mouth, more of these damaging substances sit there on your teeth allowing them to easily decay.
For anyone on long-term narcotics, methadone maintenance or anything similar that causes severe dry mouth, it should always be made clear the type of damage that can happen, so they should be told to brush and floss more often, plus use products, without sugar in them, that can help keep their mouths moist and wash away food debris. They sell several items now, OTC, that you can find in most grocery or drug stores that can help with dry mouth, plus drinking water to rinse the stuff away can also help. Rinsing with a mouthwash or treatment that can help strengthen your teeth, such as Act, can also be beneficial.
Of course, with their doctor's approval, they might also want to add a calcium supplement, to help replace what is lost from their bodies due to the medications they take.
I take several narcotics each day, on top of drinking flavored waters each day, without sugar, like the new Aquafina ones, since plain H2O gets very dull, my doctor also advised me to take Coral Calcium tablets, and to use Act or a similar rinse, at least a few times a week. I had bad teeth to begin with, and I am down to the point where all I have left are my front teeth, so I didn't need anymore problems! LOL!
..Doctors could care less when prescribing this poison,what happens to you,as long as the big pharmecutical co. make there money,and Drs.make theres they dont care if your teeth fall out and roll down the street.
say what u want but my dr. subcribe's methadone to me for my severe back pain. not giveing me poision makeing sure i can function like a human being
I can say this. My friends from Vancouver, well taken care of, as was I, by my Dentist growing up, in know uncertain terms blame Methodone use for tooth decay as waell as bone degeneration in general.
The tooth is the hardest bone in the body, and so I was blown away when I lost 1 then 2, 3, and 4 front teeth within one year.
My prescribing doctor says she has heard nothing of these side affects. She lacks knowledge and I will inform her at our next meeting.
It is true that Methadone causes a dry mouth and this is bad. Saliva kills bad bacteria. So rey to avoid a dry mouth which is hard when sleeping and when I think a lot of damage is done.
One help might be to get, and dentists prescibe this for a variety of reasons, would be a mouth guard used by athletes. There must be a gell to add with floride for extra guarding. Beyond that my ears are wide open and my mouth closed as I lost all my front teath in 1 year. Thats an illness or serious problem that must be addressed because if it is doing that to my teeth then what to my other bones.
Invented by Hitler during the second world war, it was hardly designed for opioid withdrawl. The Germans ran out of Morphine. Methadone has a long half life and they pulled that rabbit out of a hat because of it. We would all be better off on Morphine or Hydromorphone.
Ruby
Not only does it rot your teeth. it wrecks your liver, gets into your bones causes bloating and wieght gain Gte off as soooooon as you can.You know its bad if hitlers people dicovered it
I am having similar problems with tooth decay. I have been on methadine for 10+ years and am SO ready to get off, but the pain I suffer from requires surgery & they have advised that I wait to detox until after surgery. My teeth are like paste inside, I have to wear a partial and I've noticed it's mostly my top teeth, the bottom teeth are not decaying at all.
I have been on methadone since 12-11-01. Im 33. The clinic had me up to 550mg a day. (some people were even higher)im now at 234 mg and detoxung. Methadone makes you teeth week and they spinter out of your mouth(aside from fattening up people,extreme water retention,especially. - in the legs. Methadone had destoyed my teeth. I took care of my teeth. I was a functional heroin addict. This methadone just eates your teeth like a termite eats wood. I,who had braces and very beautiful teeth ,now only have 3 upper teeth(crowns,lol,what a temporary joke),and 9 lower(most are crowns). I was devistated. The only thing that offers comfort eo me is the valplast partials I havw(no metal and they are cosmetic)my friend have the same problem. It looks like they put a granade in thier mouth an pulled the pin. Aside frpm doing the drug inthr firt place,methadone was one of the most terrible mistakes of my life. Iys so terrible and is so bad to detox from. Terrible.
Just FYI, I have been on methadone for over eight years and my teeth are beautiful. I don't think methadone does anything to your teeth. I think maybe those who have probs like this have maybe used crank or other drugs before or just don't take care of themselves very well. Not to be rude. I'm just saying the methadone hasn't affected my teeth and I've been on it every day for 8+ years. However, I DO NOT recommend taking it if you are just thinking about getting started, it is extremely hard to get off of and you may never get off of it if you start taking it. Your teeth will be the least of your worries at that point.
I agree that methadone causes teeth decay my husband, brother, several friends and I have started having these probems with our teeth. They are steady just breaking away. I had a beautiful smile until I started on the methadone. I have been off the methadone but that didn't stop the dental problems. Once they start breaking if they are not fixed they just get worse. My teeth have gotten so bad, I am embrassed to leave my house or even talk to people. I was not warned about this or even talked to about it. After I got off the methadone and started taking suboxone I asked my dr. why this was going on and he started to do some research on it for me. Thats when I found out I think the methadone company needs to pay for our problems.
I am a former patient of being on Methadose and yes it is bad for your teeth I had perfect teeth before I started taking this medicine and by the time I was able to come off of it my teeth were messed up and yes a lot of people are right the doctor don't care if it messes up your teeth or if it bad for your body I tried to come off of it with the doctors help and they did not want to let me stop I had to leave and do it cold turkey if I was you if you don't have to take the medicine I wouldn't do it is not healthy
A lot of ppl seem to want to make bad comments on methadose/methadone without knowing a lot about it. I tell ppl not to discuss it until they do. I'm a recovering addict and I currently go to a recovering center and dose on methadose everyday . Before I was lying, stealing, pawning and manipulating for money to get my doc (drug of choice) which was an opiate called roxycontin or oxycontin. I was an iv user too. I know a lot of ppl don't agree with what I do, but statistically without it I have 1 out of 100 chances to recover without it. I'll wake up everyday for the rest of my life and dose on it if it means I never go back to using iv or any drugs or abusing any prescriptions again. I now can function everyday and I've held down a great job since. If u get your dose right where u need it to be, you won't be high or "nod off" like some ppl who abuse the program do.
I see my counselor once a week, I attend weekly meetings, and I meet with the dr every month. I am drug tested 2 or more times a month. I'm monitored very closely. This programmed saved my life. I'm serious about my recovery. I have no problems with my teeth. I brush two to three times a day and take daily vitamins just in case.
I cannot remember wat the new vitamins called but it's for most of the small side affects from methadone. It can b ordered thru your towns recovering center and ur doctor. It relieves hot flashes, dry mouth and sum of the other side affects. If u have tooth decay you should work on ur dry mouth cuz that will help a lot, o the vitamin also helps ur sweet cravings!!
Some posts are older, but I've had cervical fusions, 3 lumbar fusions, 40+ epidurals and many nerve cuttings, knee replacement, next coming up, ankle surgery, 2 STIM implants (to stop sciatic, total neck, and majority of mid back pain). Thankfully just had a shot from the very bottom of the spine that stopped 2 years of excruciating pain at the lower back joint. I've been going through the majority of this for 10 years although symptoms were there for 20 years prior and always was given physical therapy. I start a series of 5 knee shots next week to buy time on my knee. Like many, both husband and I are unemployed, he's disabled with 3 heart problems and more. Mine from non-stop pain. But I'm ecstatic that I'm walking, shopping, etc.
As to the teeth issue. Dental checkups every 6 months, work don't promptly, some crowns, a bridge, 3 root canals, but not too bad for 59 y.o.
Check up with new doctor in new state yesterday floored me. $5000. in damage to be taken care of immediately and they mentioned the meds as the cause, which is why I'm checking this out.
6 years ago at the onset of surgeries and intense pain, I was taking 10-325 Norco, given at the rate of 12 per day. Generally I used less, but that continued until about 2 years ago when the 2nd implant finally gave me enough relief. I now take 1/2 a pill only after 2 hours and only if I'm in pain. I've taken 1.5 per day to 4.5 per day lately depending on what I'm doing. Also as no one bothered (doctors, pharmacies) to tell me, my mouth has been constantly dry, therefore when no water available, I eat a candy. For me this is a double whammy as I'm a sugar addict, has gastric bypasss in 2004 and have put on back 1/2 of the 122# I'd lost.
I'm so angry at the moment. Another gastric bypass patient told me to chew the Norco as my system doesn't break it down as well. I passed this thru my pharmacist (who said to rinse my mouth well afterward but pieces will still be in my molars), and recently a top-notch pain specialist who said it was fine even though I had to sign that I wouldn't crush, chew, etc.
My husband has a 50% leaky heart valve, so he will definitely be taking antibiotics prior to dental work.
There are way too many people complaining about this. Why aren't voices listened to? I will discuss with the pain specialist next visit, but meanwhile after this $5000. worth of work and one is an extraction, there are more they are looking at and that they are "soft" on the outside. Not only is decay coming in from edges of crowns, but a 360 degree x-ray shows those same teeth have decay in the middle of the teeth. On the bridge, both are root canals, so they have to break the bridge, clean decay and build up again and make new bridge. I'm heartbroken as I've saved carefully for so long for emergencies, and now at 59.5 y.o. I'm going to have to withdraw from my IRA. Thank goodness I spent 42 years tucking every extra cent away.
So candy is gone out of the house (except what my husband eats) and I'm going to buy ACT as that had been mentioned to my husband recently. And I was also send a sample of Tom's toothpaste as a dental assistant recommended on here. But I guess at this point, what is done is done. Stop the candy, lose some weight, carry a small ice chest of water with me everywhere as almost anywhere I go is an hour drive each way. I do drink the zero calorie waters, but nothing carbonated as that will rob calcium from you also (I believe from my schooling is was the phosphorus).
I also am 8 hours into the day, had been doing some pretty heavy cleaning with my back brace on and only 1.5 Norco so far.
The word needs to spread and we have to become proactive and take care of ourselves. Doesn't sound like the majority of doctors, dentists, and especially Medicare (in the case of heart valve problems from dentistry) are going to help us. I want to read more. I don't find any of this on main stream sites.
Thanks for your comment Zippy, I've been on Narcotics for DDD for years, was recently switched to a very low dose of methadone (it's been a godsend) I asked a doctor years ago if the Narcotics were what were causing my increased teeth problems, she said they had nothing to do with it, just shows what some doctors know! I too have lost alot of teeth and my old fillings are constantly falling out and since I have no dental insurance they often go too far before I can get to a dentist, then have to be pulled.
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