Wednesday 28 January 2009

Gum movement

Gum movements occurring after use of D-vitamin:

Since May 2007 I have experienced several incremental movements forward of what seems to be the gum.

A month prior to the first gum movement in May 2007 I reacted strongly to a 2-week D-vitamin supplement as prescribed by my physician (2000-3000 IU) - symptoms included strong tiredness and pale face for several months.

It seems that the gum is more prone to an incremental movement forward in situations where I am more tired, e.g. a night with few hours of sleep, or accumulation of little sleep over 2-3 days. I also suspect that my calcium and D-vitamin processing and processes are not as they should be.This condition has been presented for a few physicians which have not been able to propose any hypotheses.

I have been advised to consult a maxillo-facial specialist by the British Dental Health Foundation. I have visited a few dentists concerning this matter, but no tests have been taken. Moderator variables:
Age: 31
Sex: M
Cigarettes/week: 0
Alcohol Units/week: Little
Height: 1.86
Weight: 71kg
Exercise Sessions/week: Several

Thank you for your time.
Best regards,GK



Hi GK

This is an unusual problem and I cannot think of anything specific.

You do not say why you were prescribed the Vitamin D - the recommended daily intake is 400IU, 2-3,000 IU over two weeks would not be excessive.

It is difficult to understand why that does had that effect, unless this effect was related to the original condition for which you were prescribed it.



I am not sure what exactly you mean by incremental gum movements

Teeth move within the gums, and for this reason people can have braces fitted at almost any age to move their teeth.

Is it possible that when you are tired, you are more prone to teeth grinding or teeth clenching which might affect the position of your teeth

Gums can overgrow, typically with drugs such as phenytoin (Dilantin), calcium channel blockers such as amilidopine for raised blood pressure

In general, your response to Vitamin D is difficult to understand. It is not clear why, in the dose you describe, it would have such an effect. What makes you think that you have problems with your calcium and Vitamin D metabolism?

Vitamin C is also important in gum health, as are regular visits to the Dental hygienists

This is not perhaps as helpful as might be hoped but you have got an unusual problem - Is there any other information that you feel might be relevant ?

4 comments:

  1. Dear Liz Miller,
    The dosage of D-vitamin was 3000IU per day for 8 days. Originally it was prescribed for a 2-month period to alleviate seborrhoeic dermatitis at the scalp. However, after 8 days I experienced the adverse reactions of extreme tiredness and paleness. These two effects have seemingly been reversed.

    Incremental gum movements meaning that the gum seems to have moved outwards several times noticed ex-post, but not the teeth or jaw. The teeth are aligned as before, and there has been no pain.

    I have had allergic reaction to soya when in contact with the skin, and problems with proper digestion (high values of triglycerides, possibly too much yeast, sensitive to gluten). I do not take any medications. I also lost much hair in a 2-3 day period shortly after the D-vitamin intake, an effect not previously experienced.

    The gum movements might have no causal connection to the D-vitamin intake, but a correlation might be present since it was the first time for both the reactions. I have no hypothesis concerning a potential “third” condition.

    The D-vitamin measures have always been at the lower interval border of the normal distribution (as measured in Norway), while the calcium level slightly above the upper level.

    Thank you.

    Best regards,
    GK

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  2. Hi
    Thanks for this extra information
    That your calcium levels are slightly high and vitamin D low, suggests that you may indeed by hypersensitive to Vitamin D because of an underlying Hypeparathyroidism. Parathyroid hormone acts to increase the level of calcium in the blood.

    It acts in conjunction with Vitamin D to increase the level of calcium in the blood - this may account for your response to Vitamin D.

    Although above daily requirements, the doses you were given should not be dangerous - except in the presence of raised Parathyroid hormone.

    The gum enlargement is interesting against this background. It can be caused by hormones, such as Thyroid stimulating hormone, and growth hormone and both of those hormones are similar in structure to parathyroid hormone, so there may be some overlap.

    If you are ever in London and can bring a full copy of your notes, it might be useful to arrange some hormone blood tests, including Growth hormone, TSH and Parathyroid Hormone.

    In the meantime this is turning into a medical whodunnit.
    Parathyroid hormone levels would be interesting

    Seborrheic dermatitis, is generally thought to be a fungal infection - and an antifungal shampoo such as Nizoral may be helpful.

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  3. Dear Dr. Liz Miller,

    Thank you for your last replies.

    Concerning the gum:
    I have gingivitis around 2 mm. though all the ordinary dental care actions have been taken. However, gum hypertrophy has not been proposed neither by my physician nor dentist. This hypothesis I will pursue.

    Since I also have reacted to the D-vitamin perhaps there is an interaction between the gum disease and a potential Hyperparathyroidism, or alternatively that one acts as a moderator for the other.

    I do not have a picture of my gums, except for an X-ray picture.

    I would like to visit your clinic/ hospital in London as soon as possible – clinic?

    Concerning the hair loss:
    My original hair density has been high, but after the strong adverse reaction to D-vitamin in March 2007 I lost quite much hair during a 2-3 day period some weeks later. The hair loss is distributed across the scalp, with small areas which seems to be attacked more severely that the rest of the scalp (e.g. at the side of the scalp and at front), though not in the way of alopecia areata.

    I suspect that part of the hair loss partly to be due to the seborrhoeic eczema which has yielded much scaling at the scalp. The eczema was aggressively activated in Jan. 2002 after as a reaction to a hair coloring product, where 2-3 months followed with abnormal hair loss (not reversed). Receding lines was one of the outcomes.

    Not infrequently hair falls of as glued to together in a pair at one the end of hair shaft (a white-yellow substance hold the two hairs together at the follicle-end).

    Thank you for your time.

    Best regards,
    GK

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  4. I have a sister who is suffering from some form of gum or mouth movement disorder. She always contimplates suicide because she can't take how very annoying it is. She really doesn't say that it's painful, she just says its for uncomfortable and annoying. It's also affecting her mental health. We've taken her to a neurologist, dentist, regular doctors and they can't seem to come up with an answer. My sister says that it feels like they're worms moving around in her gums. Has any one hear of anything like this. Please help. I am so tired of seeing my sister suffer.

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