Lupus Support Group

I have had tons of gum problems and my teeth do not get enough calcium, I've had pain in this one tooth. I've brushed normally and flossed. It hurts when I try to floss. I just moved it today and tasted blood. It is about to fall out.

Has this happened to anyone else? I'm about crying my eyes out over here. I have a teeth thing and I take good care of my teeth. It's bad enough that I lost about 40lbs and weighed 100 at my lowest weight.. .then my hair falls out left and right and it's so thin... now my teeth? Oh my gosh.

Sarah.....I am so sorry to hear about your teeth problems......I went to the dentist last Friday to have a cleaning and she and I talked about teeth and the immune system.....of course she knows I have Lupus and have had gum issues for years.....I had a lose tooth in 1992 and had to have gortex put in to strengthen the tooth and I also had gum surgery so I have been through a lot with my teeth over the years and now having Lupus doesn't help. I am like you and brush and floss faithfully but because we have a compromised immune system we have more bacteria in our mouth no matter how much we brush and floss so just know that your not alone with teeth problems. I hope that your dentist can give you some guidance in this area. I wish you all the best

Eva

Sarah, I am sorry you are dealing with this. I have had many dental issues as well. As a child my parents were crazy with our teeth and so I had great habits but always ended up having cavities at our checkups. So my parents had my teeth sealed to help decrease it and I repeated that again a few years ago. I think it helped slow things down for me some. I did have my first root canal a few years ago. Eva is right about the immune system and tooth decay. It is an awful thing but I don't think any part of our body is safe from this disease. I hope you are able to check with your dentist and maybe there is something that they can do to help. Good luck. April

Thank you Eva and April.

I also always have cavities despite my religious brushing habits. I even tried drinking acidic beverages out of straws so it didn't damage my enamel and I quit drinking pop for a while, too. Nothing helps. I used special fluoride tooth paste right now, but it hasn't changed. I'll have to talk to my dentist when I go.

I'm in the same boat. I have had countless root canals, crowns, etc, despite how much I brush and floss and go to my cleanings. Sadly, it is the lupus I hope your dentist can get you some relief.

Take Care,

Amy

This all happened to me last year, and I finally contacted my autoimmune doc after having the dentist blame losing the first two teeth on age...and my autodoc kept saying, "This worries me, this really worries me." (Incidentally, my autodoc has been invaluable to my surviving the worst but has a notoriously not so great bedside manner). The next morning though, I had an appointment with a dentist who specialized in Sjogren's* and who knew what was going on...and how to halt it. After slathering on the flouride varnish, I asked her why??? and she said it was because I might not have primary Sjogren's, but that I had secondary Sjogren's...and the dryness there created a destructive acidity. So, here are the treatments and (informed) suggestions that helped me. I would think that they might make a difference if the cause was from another cause of dryness. However, I believe that Sjogren's is sometimes associated with Lupus.

Anyway:

1) Keep a little bottle in the fridge that is a mixture of cold water and baking soda and rinse with it after eating, to reduce the acidity after eating.

2) Buy chewing gum with Xylitol, which would counteract the acids. Good for on the road, after meals (natch), and just another easy fix.

3) She gave me a prescription for a specialized toothpaste called: SF 5000 PLUS w/ 1.1% Sodium Fluoride (Cypress Pharmaceuticals)

4) She also slathered my teeth with a "flouride varnish". And I am finally getting my Flouride Trays from my regular dentist in a couple of days. Hurrah.....

5) And she also gave me some samples of a gum like substance that melted in your mouth, but I forget the name, as it sort of burnt my tongue.............I should have called her when that happened but for some reason I didn't. But it was something that she really liked.

6) And of course you need the old dental floss, too.

Good luck to you all,

Cali

Cali, as an ex dental hygienist myself, I 150% agree with all your recommendations

By the way, any factor causing xerostomia (lack of saliva) will increase gum and tooth problems. It could come from the disease or from the meds as well.

Sometimes, when the gum disease is too advanced, the "pocket" around the tooth is too deep and the dental floss cannot reach to the bottom of the gum line. You have to keep flossing for sure but in those situations, you need more regular dental cleaning because only the hygienist (or the dentist) can go down the pocket to remove any bacterial deposits (plaque + tartar. I worked in an hospital environment and I had to treat all these special cases... some patients I could scheduled as ofter as every 2 months...

I'll just add that for years I felt as if my teeth were like "The Portrait of Dorian Gray".....someone else in my family ate the candy and I got their cavities.

I'm sorry you are going through this with your teeth. I am slo having some problems with my teeth being very sensitive to cold especially, this only happened when I started taking Methotrexate. My Rheumy says that is an unusual side effect from Mehtotrexate but it can happen. I also get a lot of cavities even though I brush and floss religiously. I have my teeth cleaned every 6 mo. I feel like it is all related to lupus.

I have just started having the dry mouth issues. And am so afraid what it's doing with my teeth. I saw that stuff- Biotene I think- advertised on tv and found it at my drug store. It helps moisturize my mouth, but don't know if it's really helping my teeth any. But I'll keep trying it for a while and let you know if it helps. Worth a try I guess.

Hugs and best wishes,

K