The Side effects of Drinking Drugs for Your Mouth

Taking the drug was not merely to relieve illness or medical problems that you experience but also have side effects such as stomach ache or cause sleepiness. But apparently taking drugs also affect the oral health.

"Many people do not realize this," said Dr. Gigi Meinecke, a dentist who lives in Potomac, Md., as well as spokesman for the Academy of General Dentistry.

For more details, see five types of side effects commonly experienced by patients who took certain drugs and how to overcome them:

1. Dry Mouth

Besides it's uncomfortable, excessive dry mouth conditions also make your mouth susceptible to gum infections, cavities and tooth decay.

Causes:

Hundreds of types of drugs can cause dry mouth, including antacids, antihistamines, antidepressants, decongestants, pain relievers, blood pressure and drugs to treat urinary incontinence or the inability to control urine itself.

Solution:

Drinking water or suck the ice cubes regularly throughout the day and put a humidifier in your bedroom. Avoid alcoholic beverages and toothpaste that contains sodium sulfate because it can worsen the condition of your dry mouth.

Also ask your doctor or dentist if you can use the-counter moisturizing gel to stimulate saliva production or not.

2. Your Teeth Color Changed

Discoloration of teeth is usually does not occur overall.

Causes:

Antibiotics such as tetracycline, Cipro and penicillin.

Solution:

If the color change occurs in the outer tooth, your dentist can clean it easily. But if that's changed is the color of teeth along the gum line or between the teeth so the dentist must remove the color with a special abrasive tool called Prophy-Jet.

3. Overgrowing Gum

Luckily this condition is rare but can not be dismissed. Besides the unsightly, excess growth of gum can cause a lot of plaque that cause cavities and other problems.

Causes:

The use of anticonvulsant drugs in the long term, calcium channel blockers (CCB) or immunosuppressants.

Solution:

Carefully brushing and flossing are very important when taking the type of drugs above. If your teeth are filled with plaque due to the growth of the gums that not normal then you need to see a dentist more often than the usual recommended time that two times a year.

4. Bruxism

Teeth that rattle or rub against each other by itself can cause jaw pain and harm the tooth enamel.

"If ordinary people experience it at night, so they can not even perceive," says Meinecke, but some people also experience it during the day.

Cause:

Serotonin reuptake inhibitor of several types of antidepressants (SSRI) such as Prozac, Celexa, Paxil and Effexor.

Solution:

Ask your dentist to make the model of your teeth so that can be known what changes in the size and shape of the teeth from time to time may affect the condition of your natural teeth rattle.

If it only happens at night, using a mouthguard is sufficient help. Conversely, if this is happens every day and every time, ask your doctor to replace your antidepressants with other drugs that can be consumed along with antidepressants to help reduce side effects.

5. Bleeding

Certain drugs can decrease the body's ability to clotthus causing bleeding problems during your oral treatment.

Causes:

Anticoagulant drugs (such as Coumadin), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (like aspirin).

Solution:

Perform a thorough dental care such as brushing or flossing your teeth gently and make sure your dentist knows that you are taking certain drugs so that he could do something to minimize the bleeding.

"But maybe you should stop using drugs before completed a cleaning or dental care," notes Meinecke.