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HIV meds and dental care
Sep 23, 2001
Do any of the combinations of HIV meds affect the teeth? For example does it weaken the ennamel or other parts of the tooth?
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Response from Dr. Reznik
There has been a great deal of speculation pertaining to "brittle teeth syndrome", or rapidly advancing dental decay in the HAART era. Whereas, clinically speaking, we have seen an increase in root caries (decay on the root surfaces of teeth) in the HAART era; there have not been any studies linking HIV medications to this phenomenon. This does not mean that a relationship does not exist; it has just not been studied. My personal feelings are that we are seeing a combination of reasons for these changes, most notably the decrease in the quantity and quality of saliva, which has many protective properties.
We noticed an increased incidence of dental decay over the last several years and have taken several steps to address this problem. We have patients with a history of rapidly advancing dental decay come in for more frequent preventive visits and place them on office and take home fluoride therapies such as Prevident 5000 Plus.
I hope this information proves helpful.
DR
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