Yesterday I spent 4.5 hours in the dentist's chair. My six upper front teeth in the middle [#'s 6,7,8,9,10, and 11] are getting capped. He ground down my teeth to nubbins, made 4 impressions, and put 6 temporary caps on my teeth. My permanents should be ready in 3 weeks.
When the lidocaine wore off, I swear I was in more pain than I was after my pelvic reconstructive surgery. Today my face is swollen and my upper front teeth and gums are very sore. I admit to not handling dental pain well.
Over the 6 years I have been here, the subject of sudden tooth deterioration has come up. Thought I would see if any newcomers have had similar issues with their teeth.
Early in 2005 the backs of my front teeth began losing the enamel in sheets. I saw some of the top specialists in our state. None had seen anything like it. Some attributed this odd phenomenon to my medications, others to my GERD [which was well controlled with medication].
I started Remicade in November 2004. Three months later, the enamel began flaking off. Coincidence? Remicade was a wonderful drug - it relieved my years of suffering from severe inflammation in my joints. It also put my CD into remission. To this day I still have clear intestines!
Or is my sudden loss of enamel just a result of years of meds to control all the extraintestinal manifestations of my CD and my other health issues?
BTW, I owe my mother a great big thank you. My limited dental insurance would not cover any of the costs of this work. For Christmas, my mother gave me new teeth! How cool is that?!? Otherwise I would have had to live with cracking and worn down teeth.