Bulimia

[Reese]

I have suffered from Bulimia for several years now and recently I noticed that some of my teeth have become very worn down, which I understand is a possible complication associated with Bulimia.

One of my teeth in particular is very sensitive and occasionally even aches and reading the sites on the internet, it looks as though the tooth might need a root canal filling.

I would like to know if there is any point in having work such as root canal fillings done, if my bulimia is going to continue to damage my natural teeth. Would I not be better off, removing the tooth and having an implant which I suppose would be more resistant against the stomach acids.

[Dr Vahid Motahar]

Hi,

Thank you for your question.

Interesting question. Should we extract your tooth that is affected by bulimia to the extend that need root canal treatment or just have the tooth out and replaced by implant. But the question is that what are we going to do with the other teeth and the underlying cause, eating disorder.

Yes you can replace the affected natural tooth with implant which is man made and is less affected by acid but i am of the believe that we can never give a a tooth that is as good as you natural tooth even with implant.

What I suggest is to try to treat the cause of the problem and then restore and maintain the natural teeth. In other words what will you do if the tooth is extracted and your implant is not successful!?
The reason I mention this is because we have had patient that suffered from similar condition. But due to eating disorder their bone density and quality was affected and it was not suitable for implant placement and we could not place implant in her jaw. So we had to try to salvage her own tooth which we did. The solution to this problem is not just taking the tooth out and replace it by something that is acid resistant. Solution is treatment for bulimia and restoration of the teeth. I hope I have not been to unkind.