I had Gastric Bypass on 12-1-2009 and have recently discovered that my teeth are riddled with cavities, issues below the gum lines, broken teeth, crumbling teeth, teeth turning gray, enamel thinning and cavaties under my crowns! I reached out to a friend of mine who had the same surgery about 5 years ago and she is going through the same thing! She spent over $8K last year and $7K needed this year only for her dentist to tell her she will eventually lose all of her teeth and need dentures! My dental appt yesterday he estimated $10K worth of dental work. After my appointment I watched the show 600 pound life and the guy was having serious dental issues!!! I began Googling and so many patients are having the same issues and were never told about this!

Is anyone else going through this that is post Gastric Bypass? My teeth were beautiful prior to surgery, now I look like a meth addict!!!

Sorry you and your friend are having these issues. Some people could be prone to soft enamel, I imagine absorbing less calcium could increase this loss. I am prone to making plaque and get my teeth cleaned 4 times a year because of this, they use that tool that goes below the gum line to clean them.

Not to negate your problems, but that dude on tv already had bad teeth.

Are y'all taking calcium still? Do you get regular dental care? You are the second person to post about this issue in two days.

I did just do some reading on this a little more - and there might be ph changes in our mouth after the surgery contributing to this. As well as reflux, antacids, eating 6 times a day - and not brushing more often, chewable vitamins causing acidic contact, etc. So this bears more research.

Some people may have been vitamin/mineral deficient prior to surgery and with unidentified dental issues and with continued deficiencies made a perfect storm.

I do think that bariatric surgeons should make one of the prerequisites of surgery....having a clean dental bill of health at the time of surgery. Mine never asked me about my teeth, nor did he ever look in my mouth. I was kinda...shocked...by this.

I think this is important because tooth infections are dangerous. They can migrate to your heart valves and kidney and cause life threatening infections.

And while I don't think that bariatric surgery by itself will cause catastrophic dental issues, I do think that more care needs to be taken with dental upkeep in the years following bariatric surgery because our mouths are exposed to food more often and we don't always brush after our many tiny meals. Emphasis needs to be placed on the potential of tooth problems if you fail to take your calcium and D. Emphasis should also be placed on increasing routine maintenance....brushing more often with more little meals.

Would be really cool if dentists offered a bariatric surgery consult to give advice about increased dental hygiene and the importance of resolving any existing issues before surgery and about taking calcium.

I just had a check up and my teeth are healthy, no issues. But I know a lot of folks neglect their teeth for one reason or another and it would be wise to provide some education at the bariatric surgeon's office.

Edited March 22, 20188 yr by Creekimp13

I’m shocked to see people here don’t know about this... it’s kind of common sense. Take your calcium citrate, not carbonate, make sure your levels are good and see the dentist 2x a year.

My doctor(bariatric surgeon) draws my blood every 3 months to check my vitamin levels. It is a requirement not a choice. He instructs us on making sure we understand how important taking our bariatric strength vitamins everyday if not he will know when it shows up low levels in our bloodwork. Also, we have to see our primary care doctor and get our magnesium levels checked. Thats a requirement also. So basically he monitors our levels for a whole year then after the year every year we have to get our vitamin levels checked and also continue to follow up with the primary doctor. We go to monthly support classes and so its a all around great program. I was dealing with enamel erosion before my gastric bypass surgery and my doctor at that time told me to increase my calcium. I later learned that calcium citrate is highly absorbable and was told to take that form im still taking it but at bariatric strength. Its must to know your vitamin levels and regular bloodwork is tool to help guide you and the doctor when deficiencies occur.

I just emailed the hospital bariatric support group coordinator and suggested one of the programs should be this very topic - have a dentist or hygienist as a presenter.

So bari brothers and sisters how are YOUR teeth doing post surgery-[emoji6]

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Well Thankfully, everything you read isn’t always true! I went to my dental cleaning and my dentist laughed at me when I asked him if I was losing my teeth or if I had Meth mouth like I had read in an article. He told me absolutely not and that my teeth were strong and I wasn’t going to lose them or need dentures! He said that the only issue I had was from a prior dentist over filling my fillings, which caused two of them to break. I was so relieved! He told me to not read anything else about someone else’s experience because we don’t always know every issue they may have gone through. I do take my vitamins, my doctor checks me every 3 months. I do think it is something we should be aware of as Gastric Bypass patients, but nothing to freak out over, like someone said, that guy on TV had bad teeth prior to his surgery! So for now, I’m in great shape and will keep smiling! They aren’t perfect, but they are my real teeth! (Some crowns, that will be getting replaced by nicer ones!)

Edited April 3, 20188 yr by Datsweetbabydoll 2

Groovy smile,i hope you keep your choppers for a good long while[emoji13]

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On 3/22/2018 at 10:01 AM, Datsweetbabydoll 2 said:

dentist to tell her she will eventually lose all of her teeth and need dentures

HOLY DENTAL FLOSS!!!!

people will lose their their teeth??

are you kidding me?!!! LOL

it would be a trip to see 1/2 the world toothless!!

Peeps should be taking care of their teeth/gums etc.

Ain't it the tooth!!

keep smiling

kathy

Kathy you are one Sharp lady, you never Bite Off More Than You can chew (and chew and chew)[emoji3]

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Dental problems run in my family it's terrible. But regardless if I had bypass or not my teeth will probably be all gone by the time I'm in my 50s it does not bother me because I can start saving now for implants lol

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Well Thankfully, everything you read isn’t always true! I went to my dental cleaning and my dentist laughed at me when I asked him if I was losing my teeth or if I had Meth mouth like I had read in an article. He told me absolutely not and that my teeth were strong and I wasn’t going to lose them or need dentures! He said that the only issue I had was from a prior dentist over filling my fillings, which caused two of them to break. I was so relieved! He told me to not read anything else about someone else’s experience because we don’t always know every issue they may have gone through. I do take my vitamins, my doctor checks me every 3 months. I do think it is something we should be aware of as Gastric Bypass patients, but nothing to freak out over, like someone said, that guy on TV had bad teeth prior to his surgery! So for now, I’m in great shape and will keep smiling! They aren’t perfect, but they are my real teeth! (Some crowns, that will be getting replaced by nicer ones!)

I totally agree with you , every case is different, if you take your vitamins every day and your doctor check your blood levels every three months it will prevent future issues , also daily brush and floss sure help.

Holy cow, this scared me for a second.... I will be taking my vitamins EVERY DAY. Thank you, bariatricpal.......... glad everyone's teeth are good though! phew.