I just spent an hour and a half getting four cavities filled. All of them were between my teeth. These are in addition to the three that I had filled in December.
If you missed that post, let me fill you in (ha!): thanks to my ADD meds, I had seven #%$^ing cavities at my last check-up.
If you’ve taken brain drugs, at all, ever, you will know that dry mouth is a common side effect. In many cases this is a simple annoyance — you feel thirsty a lot and have to drink more water so you have to pee more. However, saliva is also an important part of your body’s defenses against tooth decay. If your saliva production is impacted enough, it can’t get rid of nasty bacteria in your mouth, and cavities can result.
In my case, the ADD meds might be the tipping point, since I’m also on meds for depression and allergies. Antihistamines, and especially decongestants, work in part by drying out the mucus membranes. It would be great if this could be limited to where it’s needed, like nasal and sinus passages. Instead, it gets all of ‘em — including the mouth.
So kids, if you’re on ADD meds (or allergy meds or anti-depressants or whatever), please keep close tabs on your teeth. Floss and brush after every meal, if you can. If you can’t, just floss. If you can’t do that, consider a gum of breath mint with xylitol, a chemical that stimulates saliva production. In order to work, the product needs to have a lot of xylitol, so be sure to go with a high-octane product like Epic.
If I save just one person from the holy-$#^%-I-have-how-many-cavities experience, it will be … well, not worth it, but definitely less traumatic.
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