Long termers (or anyone!) - had any problems with teeth?

[Samsara]

This does seem to be something coming up in long termers - dental sensitivity, rotting and erosion. Lots of breakages and cavities (for example, one person had 17 cavities in one year despite thorough dental hygiene and no vitamin deficiences evident from bloodwork).

Most of those I have been reading about are 5+ years out but some were four years out. Has anyone here noticed any significant deterioration in teeth?

Here are a couple of extractions from elsewhere on this matter:

Original posters question: A friend of mine had GBS 8 years ago and now has a mouth full of rotten teeth. Her dentist says it's due to the excess acids in the mouth following GBS. Has anyone had any dental problems after GBS? I'm a little concerned about this

I'm 9 years out. In the past year I've had a front lower tooth break off as well as losing 4 molars down to the gum line. My two front upper teeth are rotting from where they meet outward, my gums are receding, and my lower front center teeth are decaying as well. I'm going in the end of this month for mass extraction and dentures. I can't drink enough to keep my mouth moist, and now on top of it all I can smell the decay. I can't wait to get them all taken out. I've read up on this and it's an excess acid issue that causes the decay. It's one of those things that they didn't know was going to happen when they started doing this surgery en masse. You don't know the long-term effects of a procedure until it's been a long time after it was done

So I had gastric bypass 7 years ago and while I can say that YES ive lost a great deal of weight the health problems are tremendous... iron infusions, b12 shots... im 28 years old and have been told I have to have most of my teeth removed.. the cause.. my body doesnt absorb the vitamins needed.. years of dumping syndrome and throwing up... no matter how many times I brush or floss it was bound to happen.. Hey thanx Dr. Sapala.. im a size 10 with no teeth...

I brushed and flossed and saw the dentist regularly. I also take a ton and a half of vitamins. In Feb. of this year I had the right half of my mouth emptied of teeth. As soon as our FSA is re-upped in January I'm going in to get the rest pulled and then I'll be getting a full set of dentures. I've done research lately and found that for some of us the GBS causes decreased saliva production which can lead to tooth decay because the enzymes in saliva that help destroy bacteria aren't present. Some of us also have increased gastric acid production. I was lucky enough to get both, so now I have rotten teeth that I cannot afford to continually update and repair every 6 months for the rest of my life. I can't wait to get the remaining 12 teeth pulled. I'm very self-conscious since half of my mouth is now void of teeth and I won't smile for photos. We just couldn't afford the $11K for the extractions under general anesthesia (because of my persistent idiopathic facial pain I have to be put to sleep for dental work) and a full set of dentures, and some of the ones on the right side were really bad, so we did that side with the money we had and now I'm looking forward to getting the rest of the rotten, decaying, loose and gross things out of my mouth. I think as time goes on we're going to see more and more of this happening. It was an unknown when the surgery regained popularity - kinda like the gallbladder problems with earlier forms of the surgery.
Because of the meds I take and the chronic pain, I've regained most of the weight I lost. I don't tolerate much exercise so there's not a lot I can do about it.....looking back, staying the way I was might not have been such a bad choice. I don't know. I really don't. I thought I was doing the right thing but with everything that has happened in my life since then .......... I just don't know. Hindsight and all that.....

I just wonder how common this actually is and whether anyone here has had similar problems? We know pretty much the hair will grow back at some point but the same can't be said for teeth and I certainly cannot afford a set of implants down the road :sigh: Thanks x x

 

[Samsara]

"9 years out and losing teeth"

Well, I recently discovered that one of the long term complications of the Lap RNY procedure for *some* folks is inadequate calcium absorption leading to tooth decay and loss. I've now lost 4 teeth, all molars, in little chunks; one of my lower front teeth broke off in my mouth; I have two broken molars; and man, my mouth reeks. I have Persistent Idiopathic Facial Pain diagnosed in 2005 so I can't go to a regular dentist for cleaning or treatment. I am on my way to see an IV sedation dentist on the 27th of this month to get all my teeth extracted and have dentures put in their place.

I don't want to lose my teeth. I'm not happy. I went for several years when I was younger and uninsured without a cleaning and I had some cavities but nothing like this. I've since spoken with several people more than 5 years out who are also losing their teeth. I take 3 doses of Calcium Citrate daily in addition to a multivitamin with calcium in it. My calcium levels are fine. Somehow, though, the calcium isn't getting from point A to point B and my teeth are paying the price.

Now because of my disability and because hubby will be retiring next year, leaving us unable to pay for an IV sedation cleaning every 6 months in addition to any other necessary work, I'll be getting dentures. I just hope and pray that I will be able to tolerate the pressure from the dentures on my gums.

Is there anyone else out there losing their teeth? I'm just wondering if it's one of those little-talked-about complications they don't want to tell people about - or maybe they just don't know it's happening. I don't know....but it is frustrating to know that at the age of 52 I'm saying goodbye to my pearly whites, now cracking, splitting, chipping and falling off in pieces.

 

[chrisa]

My teeth have generally gone down hill since my 2 pregnancies, i can count on one hand the times i have been for a 6month check and needed no work done. Always have filling or root canal to do have 2 that were capped in 88 when my first child was born, both have been redone now but both lasted over 20 yrs which is amazing really the 2nd one just came off in Oct, it did really well. I have told my dentist bout my op and he thought all was looking well at the momment but Iam only 171/2 months post so we will see. xx

 

[JED]

im only 18 months out but no probs so far.

 

[bex j88]

Hi all.

I am on the waiting list to be banded so cannot give you first hand experience of tooth decay from the bypass. But, seeing your post, I thought I would post as have a couple of tips to share....

The first one is:
Oil Pulling. (Look it up on google) i use coconut oil because the taste is lovely and consistency is like water (not gloopy like normal oil) at the age of 32 I am proud to say I don't have any fillings, and in fact I still have 1 baby tooth (?!) which is as strong as the rest!

I think this practise in itself could buy you years if not stop the rotting altogether- I'm a believer but you gotta try it to see if it works for you.

Also, I have a book which i will dig out in a jiff- it's tried and tested and will cure all teeth problems. It is a natural book - ie you have to be bothered to buy the ingredients and make stuff (like bone broth) but I have it on good authority that it will cure anything and everything....luckily I haven't had to use it but I bought it as a back up as its so highly recommended and normally hard to get hold of.

Hang on a mo whilst I dig out the book- in the meantime maybe worth looking up the benefits of oil pulling!
Thanks
Bex xx

 

[bex j88]

The book is called

"Cure Tooth Decay: Remineralise cavities and repair your teeth naturally with good food" by Ramiel Nagel

Hope this helps!
X

 

[lamornamiss]

My tooth problems started at around 18 months post op
Hardly had any problems before, but have had and a few fillings mainly after teeth have broken (I've lost count of how many) but the filling have fallen out and had to be redone resulting in 2 extractions (one after an abscess)
I have got a broken tooth at the moment which has been fixed once so back to the dentist I go
Thank god for NHS dentists

 

[Ruthiep]

I hadn't connected my tooth problems with my sleeve operation.

Before I had my op I had my main problem with one tooth that split when I bit on something hard. I had to have root canal on it and later a crown, with an infection setting in inbetween one and the other.

Then a year after my sleeve I needed root canal in another tooth; a molar this time, and this tooth is now very fragile, and a big chunk has broken off of it, and will have to be crowned. In the meantime it has a temporary crown and a big filling to protect it.

Other than that my teeth seem fine but I take calcium and vitamin d every day.

 

[ceejay]

Hi all.

I am on the waiting list to be banded so cannot give you first hand experience of tooth decay from the bypass. But, seeing your post, I thought I would post as have a couple of tips to share....

The first one is:
Oil Pulling. (Look it up on google) i use coconut oil because the taste is lovely and consistency is like water (not gloopy like normal oil) at the age of 32 I am proud to say I don't have any fillings, and in fact I still have 1 baby tooth (?!) which is as strong as the rest!

I think this practise in itself could buy you years if not stop the rotting altogether- I'm a believer but you gotta try it to see if it works for you.

Also, I have a book which i will dig out in a jiff- it's tried and tested and will cure all teeth problems. It is a natural book - ie you have to be bothered to buy the ingredients and make stuff (like bone broth) but I have it on good authority that it will cure anything and everything....luckily I haven't had to use it but I bought it as a back up as its so highly recommended and normally hard to get hold of.

Hang on a mo whilst I dig out the book- in the meantime maybe worth looking up the benefits of oil pulling!
Thanks
Bex xx

I'm 7 months out and no problems so far...

I'm very interested in this. Do you just swill the oil round your mouth, then spit it out? I've never heard of it! How often do you do it?

I have a real OCDish routine when it comes to my teeth, but probably started with it a bit too late, so my problems I get now are from years ago. Having said that, my teeth are clean (tho not bright white) and nice and straight. It's just a few old fillings.

TIA

 

[bex j88]

Yes I just swish it round for 15 minutes- it's not at all unpleasant as I expected, its just like using mouthwash! And with coconut oil the taste is nice enough (although you must not swallow whilst pulling as it extracts toxins and bacteria) I do it every morning and sometimes evening. It gets a bit addictive but the benefits are there to carry on doing it! X

 

[Samsara]

I don't know how my thread ended up in the bypass section as my question was directed to all long term post wls not to one specific type of wls?! Can someone please move it to a more general area? Thanks

 

[Samsara]

I hadn't connected my tooth problems with my sleeve operation.

Before I had my op I had my main problem with one tooth that split when I bit on something hard. I had to have root canal on it and later a crown, with an infection setting in inbetween one and the other.

Then a year after my sleeve I needed root canal in another tooth; a molar this time, and this tooth is now very fragile, and a big chunk has broken off of it, and will have to be crowned. In the meantime it has a temporary crown and a big filling to protect it.

Other than that my teeth seem fine but I take calcium and vitamin d every day.

Thank you for this - can I ask the daily dose of calcium and Vitamin D you are taking? Has it changed at all or remained the same dose?

 

[Jaybo78]

yes Calcium is important but most people forget or overlook that one important factor for the well being of teeth is flouride. it is present in many foods and inparticular drinking water from the tap, NOT in bottled water. all the typical named brands Volvic, Evian etc are flouride free. i wonder with a reduced food and drink ability with weight loss surgery patients, and in particular those people that buy bottled water to carry around with them to sip at through the day are actualy lacking sufficent flouride intake to maintain healthy teath, this would certanly be noticed several months or years after.


Fluoride is important as it combats tooth decay in two ways:

1. It is incorporated into the structure of developing teeth when it is ingested.
2. It protects teeth when it comes in contact with the surface of the teeth.

Fluoride basicaly prevents the acid produced by the bacteria in plaque from dissolving, or demineralizing the tooth enamel. Fluoride also allows teeth damaged by acid to remineralize and thus repair. Fluoride cannot repair cavities, but it can reverse low levels of tooth decay and thus prevent new cavities from forming.

my thoughts would be to perhaps have a resuable flask post surgery for daily drinking water from the tap not branded bottled waters, and perhaps using a high flouride based toothpaste which is found in most kids toothpastes.

Just a thought?

 

[Samsara]

I hadn't connected my tooth problems with my sleeve operation.

Before I had my op I had my main problem with one tooth that split when I bit on something hard. I had to have root canal on it and later a crown, with an infection setting in inbetween one and the other.

Then a year after my sleeve I needed root canal in another tooth; a molar this time, and this tooth is now very fragile, and a big chunk has broken off of it, and will have to be crowned. In the meantime it has a temporary crown and a big filling to protect it.

Other than that my teeth seem fine but I take calcium and vitamin d every day.

Thank you for this - can I ask the daily dose of calcium and Vitamin D you are taking? Has it changed at all or remained the same dose?

 

[Yvessa]

Have to say I tried the oil pulling. I have a massive abcess that if I go to the dentist ab out he will pull it as he has already tried everything else eg root canal. Today it is tiny! And not painful at all.

 

[Samsara]

Have to say I tried the oil pulling. I have a massive abcess that if I go to the dentist ab out he will pull it as he has already tried everything else eg root canal. Today it is tiny! And not painful at all.

Did you use the coconut oil? I wish I could start over with a brand new set of teeth...

 

[Yvessa]

I used olive as its what I had, but am ordering coconut.

 

[bex j88]

yes Calcium is important but most people forget or overlook that one important factor for the well being of teeth is flouride. it is present in many foods and inparticular drinking water from the tap, NOT in bottled water. all the typical named brands Volvic, Evian etc are flouride free. i wonder with a reduced food and drink ability with weight loss surgery patients, and in particular those people that buy bottled water to carry around with them to sip at through the day are actualy lacking sufficent flouride intake to maintain healthy teath, this would certanly be noticed several months or years after.

Fluoride is important as it combats tooth decay in two ways:
[*]It is incorporated into the structure of developing teeth when it is ingested.
[*]It protects teeth when it comes in contact with the surface of the teeth.
Fluoride basicaly prevents the acid produced by the bacteria in plaque from dissolving, or demineralizing the tooth enamel. Fluoride also allows teeth damaged by acid to remineralize and thus repair. Fluoride cannot repair cavities, but it can reverse low levels of tooth decay and thus prevent new cavities from forming.

my thoughts would be to perhaps have a resuable flask post surgery for daily drinking water from the tap not branded bottled waters, and perhaps using a high flouride based toothpaste which is found in most kids toothpastes.

Just a thought?

Coming from a more natural angle, I would actually disagree wholeheartedly on the so called "benefits" of fluoride.

I strongly recommend you Look up the dangers of fluoride before you start to increase your dose...

This is of course just my opinion - but I felt it important to give you the other side of the coin and urge you to fully investigate the pros and cons of fluoride before taking any action- especially as you have shown an interest in oil pulling which suggests you are keen to consider alternative ways x