Can a Toothache Make You Addicted to Drugs?
Taking Prescription Drugs for a Toothache Can Make You Addicted to Drugs
Getting a toothache is rarely a pleasant experience. It will often cause enough pain that it quickly becomes almost intolerable, leading you to seek help for pain relief. While prescription painkillers can temporarily give you the relief you want, there is a danger that they can also quickly lead to an addiction to drugs. When that occurs, it can result in a lot more damage to your teeth.
Determine the Cause of the Pain
Although it is easy to say that a toothache indicates a dental problem, it is important to understand that time is not on your side. While the problem causing the toothache may not be very serious when you first notice the pain, ignoring it can lead to much more serious dental problems – which also means more costly ones, too.
Taking addictive painkillers will help you ignore the pain more, which means that your dental problem only becomes even worse. With some painkillers, or if you choose to use illegal drugs to relieve the pain, they will only speed up the process of causing even more damage to your teeth and gums.
The Cause of Addiction
Taking strong painkillers, whether it is with or without a prescription, can lead to a dependence on the drugs because it creates artificial endorphins. These hormones are naturally produced by your brain, but when artificial endorphins are added, the natural production decreases. In fact, your brain may cease to produce them, leading the individual to want more from the drug, encouraging drug addiction.
An additional cause of drug addiction is that your body soon becomes accustomed to the painkilling drug. When this happens, more of the drug is needed to have the same effect, and stronger doses need to be taken to get the same effect.
The Time Frame for Addiction
The average person can take a strong prescription drug for about a week without fear of becoming addicted. Obviously, this is not a very long time. Becoming addicted to a drug often takes place after about a month, but it depends on the individual. Some people can take it longer than this without a problem, others become addicted in less than a month.
Possible Problems Occurring with Drug Addiction
After you become addicted to strong painkillers, you can expect that it is going to change your life – negatively. While the symptoms will vary depending on the particular medication you take – and how much of it, you might expect some of the following: dizziness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, shortness of breath, constipation, rash, and more.
In addition to these side effects, there are many other possible problems that may result from an addiction. You may also find it hard to concentrate, which could cause you to lose your job or reputation, drop out of school, lose your family, or possibly even lose your life.
Addiction Can Affect the Baby
If you are pregnant and become addicted to drugs, there is a strong possibility that your baby can become addicted, too. After birth, the baby may develop symptoms of addiction – which is sure to be noticed by the hospital staff. Some drugs can also be found in breast milk, so that can also lead to addiction to drugs over time in your child.
Possible Dental Problems Causing Pain
There are several problems with your teeth that can cause pain. Some of them include a cavity, a split tooth, wisdom teeth coming in that do not have enough room, damage to a tooth, a gum infection, and more. A tooth infection can also easily spread to your sinuses and become a painful sinus infection that will not go away. A gum infection may be gingivitis, and this could easily become periodontitis, which could lead to deterioration of your gums and jawbone, causing teeth to start falling out.
Get Dental Care Quickly to Avoid Risk
Instead of ignoring the obvious toothache, try going to a dentist and getting an accurate evaluation of the cause of it. Letting the dentist take care of the cause of the problem at the start will enable you to avoid needing painkillers in the first place – and eliminate the possibility of addiction.
The best way to get relief from a toothache is to let the dentist eliminate the problem. It really may be cheaper than trying all kinds of drugs to remove the symptoms – and dental care is not addictive. Once the dentist removes the cause of the pain, you can enjoy a mouth that is pain-free and will not need drugs afterward.
