I have always taken care of my teeth and my mouth. Twice a year dental checks and cleanings, very few cavities as an adult, braces when I was 30...I was going to leave this world with my real teeth. I have had diabetes II for 13 years, treated with janumet and glimerpride. In the last two years, I have been having teeth that were filled with I was a teen start to break off between the fillings and part of my tooth. My dentist is a great sculpture and has remade the tooth or teeth, and they did very well, I haven't had much trouble with them until this summer. I made four trips to the dentist for broken teeth, no cavities, just broken fillings and time to rebuild the tooth. I now have three teeth that are in need of the same treatment. Two of them I am almost sure he will say he can rebuild and they'll have to come out. My insurance only pays to $1000 and my new year began in July....sure these teeth are going to eat up my $$ quite quickly. My sugars have been great, 5.8 A1C, I exercise, take my meds, etc. But this is getting old, and I don't want these teeth pulled...not at all. I don't eat nuts or hard candy, one came out when I ate a piece of bacon, the other when I was chewing a piece of toast. For the last week, I have been eating a soft diet or a liquid diet so as to not make the problems worse. I know diabetes affects your teeth, gums, etc...but why are my teeth cracking off ---- besides having 40 - 50 year old fillings? HELP!
Thanks for the info. I do take vitamin d and k regularly, so I doubt that's the answer. Had a bone scan test last year,and surprisingly it was great. But the IPTH will be a good thing to ask about at my next appt, Thanks
Although I don't know that this is the answer to my teeth and filings problems, it makes sense to me, so thought I would share it. Yep, I lost another filling last week, soonest they could get me in was yesterday............so where do I chew, since I can't see myself eat, I just imagine it was a peculiar sight, I asked dentist why this is all happening and gave me two reasons, first, some of the diabetic meds I take (janumet and amaryl) dry out my mouth, and things that are dry tend to crack and separate; I need to get my mouth more moist, I must admit, it seems like my mouth is always dry and my lips are dry, hydration could be an answer. Although a little spendy, I should get some "biotene" mouth wash and use it twice or even better three times a day and see if that helps; and then of course, drink LOTS! of water...The second reason, he said was "the sins of our youth" some of my fillings are from when I was 13 - 15 years old...think of the abuse they have taken since then, and old buildings do crack and crumble. Not a whole lot I could do about being older, but to be sure that I don't eat hard candy, hard nuts etc....made sense, but that's not something I can fix. A good dose of Vitamin b, d and even e wouldn't hurt, but somethings only he and God can fix. So if this helps anyone besides me, well there it is,
Are the fillings giving problems are the silver amalgan style?
In my younger years the fillings were made large and mechanically poor in that
chewing pressure in mouth kept pushing fillings down on tooth eventually cracking tooth. Then root canel time, crown only if lucky, or extract and implant.
All my older fillings have become anuisance.
I also meant to add that supplements like fish oil, D3, magnesium oxide can really be helpful.
My wife was having terrible tooth loss and bad gums. SHE got unholy hell about properly cleaning and flossing. 6 months after adding the supplements, her gums cleaned up and bone in jaw improved so dramatically that prior advise was implants -no dam way. Today new dentist and dental surgeon said no problem and installed implants and gums look way better. Prior advice on supplements - waste of time. Experience for my wife says otherwise. I wish Ih ad done this way sooner.
I've had diabetes for six years; probably much longer before diagnosis. I've also had terrible teeth almost since birth. I'm not convinced diabetes has anything to do with it. One of my dentists said some people are born with thin enamel & that makes teeth more prone to decay. I also have a dry mouth & dry eye problem. Dry mouth also contributes to decay by upsetting the balance of bacteria. After constant decay & constant replacement of fillings, I had a full reconstruction - 30 crowns & 26 root canals. One of the factors that contributes to poor dental care is dental insurance - where the insurer has the option of paying for the cheapest treatment options (like fillings instead of crowns, as in my case.) I paid for the reconstruction out of pocket & that's the only reason my teeth were saved. As my dentist explained, constantly replacing fillings is a very bad idea because the decay continues around the filling & requires more & more of the tooth to be grinded away each time the filling is replaced. Then, there is not enough tooth to support a filling. Such teeth should be crowned, not filled, but a dental insurance provider will instruct the dentist to use fillings because they are cheaper than crowns. I only see a dentist when I need a crown replaced or a root canal - which is every 4-5 years. The notion that frequent dental visits & "professional" cleanings will prevent dental problems is a myth IMO.
The impression I get from my dentist is that they are there as much to keep an eye on our gums as much as our teeth. I have ok teeth, no braces, no cavities, although I knocked a couple out in a bicycle crash so I have two crowns but they are keeping an eye on my gums, got me to try the Soniccare toothbrush, etc. and it seems to be helping keep things the way they are. Although I think that I may have been inclined to be an "overbrusher" so perhaps that's why my gums are an issue.
I would look into the possibility of having acid reflux. I have Reflux and the acid travels up in to my mouth when sleeping and this has caused damage to my back teeth.
xring, in SD the Medicaid people would rather pay to have your tooth pulled than fixed. I should say they would rather have it pulled than to put a crown or do a root canal and save what they can. I "jokingly" tell my dentist, it's a good thing they aren't looking at my knees that closely, because they would have my legs amputated so they didn't have to keep paying for new knees. But I do believe you are right, it has a lot to do with dental insurance or lack there of. And since Medicaid is my chief in surance I have to pretty much do what they want. So far I have been lucky that they will allow for the reconstruction and fillings,.,.but for how long?
No acid reflux...,..I wish it were that easy,
Nope I think we have determined that several of my medications have caused dry mouth, and we are in the process of finding different meds that will do the same job, without causing the dry mouth problem. Otherwise, I'll have to switch to a different dental care plan, which would involve mouth wash and tablets for dry mouth,
I had dental insurance through my employer. That dentist was replacing my large fillings every few MONTHS. I asked him why he was re-filling teeth instead of crowns & he said, "I'm a conservative dentist." I didn't know until later that he said what he was trained to say by the insurance provider. Later, when I changed jobs & consulted another private dentist, she explained that NONE of my fillings should have been replaced; there wasn't enough tooth to support fillings & she explained the insurance situation to me. I realized that unless I wanted dentures, I'd have to pay for my own dental care, so I did.
Medical insurers pull the same crap - collecting monthly premiums & providing medical care on the cheap. If they decided your treatment is too expensive, they'll say "It's experimental" or "It's not covered under your plan."
She also showed me a dental newsletter she got that explained the serious hazards of mercury in silver fillings. The newsletter had a warning: "Any dentist who shows this to a patient will face disciplinary action up to & including possible loss of their license."