Published on
Updated
Reading 3 mins.
in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director)
Medical validation:
April 24, 2023
In a Mirror (UK) publication, Nathalie Lacasse, a 24-year-old Canadian tells how taking painkillers for years, combined with bad habits, would have resulted in the loss of all her teeth. Dr. Kierzek returns for us to the proper use and prevention that prevail in such a prescription.
At the age when young women present on social networks combine selfies and smiles on their page, Nathalie Lacasse, a 24-year-old Canadian, dares to talk about an illness that has been eating away at her for 5 years: her almost total absence of teeth, damaged by the side effects of a treatment of painkillers in his adolescence. A highlighting that requires courage and which allows to underline the importance of not self-medicating.
Oral problems, taking painkillers, and brushing involved
The origin of the oral problems of the young woman goes back, it seems, to her childhood. Nathalie is 12 years old when she is diagnosed with temporomandibular disorder, a dysfunction of the left jaw joint, which causes her chronic pain. At 18, she was hospitalized for something else entirely, after a car accident tore her lower back muscle, doctors then prescribed her naproxen for the pain, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, advising her to take it for two weeks. This is where his problems begin. Nathalie starts vomiting several times a day. In her confessions online, she explains that she developed stomach ulcers which caused her to vomit frequently for five months.
“When I had peptic ulcers in my stomach, I threw up for months, and I thought I was doing the right thing by brushing my teeth as soon as I threw up. I had no idea that it’s the opposite of what you do after you get sick, because you’re just brushing the acid into your teeth, breaking down the enamel. I wiped my teeth out doing that.”
Towards an acceptance of its “particularity”
Nathalie Lacasse’s message is above all preventive, but the young woman also hopes to change people’s view of her trauma by broadcasting numerous videos. The one who for a time collapsed psychologically and saved $ 5,000 to redo a prosthesis, which irritates her nerves and causes her migraines, now seems a little more liberated thanks to the assumed sharing of her situation.
“Sometimes I forget that it’s not normal and I smile at someone or talk to a cashier without my dentures, and they look like they saw a ghost”, she explains. Natalie. “At this point, I don’t care because without my dentures I have a lot less pain.”
Today, Nathalie is considering reconstruction of her jaw with a specialized prosthesis, at a cost of 15,000 euros.
“No self-medication with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug”
Contacted on the subject, Dr. Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo sees in this news item two important messages to remember:
“It is not the anti-inflammatory here that causes the loss of teeth, on the other hand, it is the cause of indirect side effects. It must be remembered that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are never harmless, are to be taken if necessary for short periods of only a few days, possibly with a gastric protector to avoid abdominal pain. But it is above all not a product to be taken in self-medication, precisely because of the many side effects.”
The other message concerns brushing, which seems to have caused or accelerated the loosening of the young woman’s teeth.
“This is a question of excess hygiene. Of course you have to brush your teeth, but doing it frantically, and too often damages the body, especially if the teeth are already fragile”.
As a reminder, with or without gastric problems, suitable and effective brushing is
- Brushing morning and evening for 2 minutes, with fluoridated toothpaste and a suitable toothbrush;
- Cleaning the interdental spaces with brushes and/or dental floss;
- And one or two check-up visits to his dentist, every year.