Chipped / Broken teeth

[Hazmat35]

Ever since I was young, I had good teeth!  I was the envy of my brothers / sisters or anyone who ever had braces!  My teeth were "PERFECT" as perfect could be. 

But, since I've had PKD, and before I had to go on Dialysis, my teeth have sort of deteriorated right before my eyes.  I've had so many broken or chipped teeth, it isn't funny. 

My Neph told me that prior to Dialysis, that acids were building up in my body, so he gave me some medicines to reduce the acids.  Could this be the cause of the bad teeth all of a sudden? 

[texasstyle]

Not sure about the uric acid but I'm sure kidney disease can cuase some problems. Even like with renal bone disease. Your teeth are anchored into bone (the gum's just a covering) and with renal bone disease you can see what could happen. Calcium has a lot to do with the strength/structure of your teeth as well. CKD effects your calcium. Many medicines can effect the mucosa in your mouth. Anywhere from drying it out, to causing sores so medications could ultimetly effect your oral health. (when I say many medicines I mean for all kinds of illnessess. Not neccessarily for people just with kidney disease only). My husband has been on D 3 years now and seems to be ok in the teeth dept.

[gothiclovemonkey]

hazmat,
I too had "perfect" teeth all my life, until recently, now they are uber sensitive, i can barely eat or drink anything hot or cold, and even breathing outside in the cold hurts my teeth! I now have some chips, and not to mention my 2nd cavity ever!!! I only had ONE my whole life... now 2 booooooo!
I asked my dentist, he said that sometimes kidney failure can mess with ur teeth, so i asked my neph he acted like me asking that was pure insanity, of course i do ask him off the wall questions alot, and he usually just rolls his eyes. SO i dont really KNOW if it is from this, but I am going to assume since i do nothing different than i have all my life in reguards to my teeth, that it is dialysis related, or at least kidney failure related

[RightSide]

Many of us ESRD patients have higher than normal levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH).  PTH controls the level of calcium in the blood.  When PTH rises sharply, the body will try to increase the amount of calcium in the blood.  Unless you take calcium supplements, the body will do that by sucking the available calcium out of your bones and teeth.  And they will soften and become vulnerable to damage.

I had wanted to get implants to replace my broken teeth.  My oral surgeon told me that having kidney failure is one of the few contraindications for implants.  He told me to get dentures instead.

[Bruno]

So is the solution to make sure you keep your caltrate tablet intake up? I'm on 3 per day now.

[kristina]

I had a particular problem with my gums last November.

My dentist diagnosed I had deep pockets between the gum and the teeth,
and here it bled all the time when I brushed my teeth.

He said I needed urgent treatment by a specialist to deep-clean these pockets
to make the gums “normal” again.

I thought the stress of the treatment might give me another SLE-flare-up
and I did not feel confident that I could risk that being pre-dialysis and so I asked my dentist for alternatives.

He gave me the benefit of the doubt and said if I strictly brush & floss my teeth half an hour after every meal
I might have a chance to stop the gum disorder deteriorating and perhaps even get better again.
 
I followed his instructions and methodically brushed my teeth using the variety of brushes he suggested,
 after every meal, which in my case is three times a day. I avoided eating in-between-meals.

Almost a year has gone by and the pockets have normalized and the bleeding has stopped.

Of course, I have to keep it up for the rest of my life, day in day out, but I think it is worth it.

I don’t have any snacks because I would have to brush again after having a snack
and it would become an issue. It is just a matter of getting used to the routine.

I don’t know if it would work for anybody else, but it works for me.