Has anyone else lost molars since getting PMR/GCA?

I'm at the very beginning of this journey. I've been diagnosed by Rheum for PMR and suspicion of GCR. I started on 60 mg. Prednisone in January and quickly reduced to 40 mg. I've begun tapering. A few weeks ago I was leaning on my cheek with the palm of my hand when I felt something shift and move around in my mouth. It was an old ill-fitted crown which had cracked off at the gum line along with the tooth. I now need an extraction.
While my situation is not as complex as yours, my dentist will only extract if I get a bone graft as well to preserve the ridge line. Why?

Well...first, Prednisone increases our risk of infection. Second, I now take Eliquis for AFib which is a blood thinner and could potentially make it harder to stop the bleeding and third, I've been on monthly Boniva by mouth for a couple of years. That concerns the dentist the most. And I think that may be because of the rare event of jaw necrosis which seems to be a greater risk with infusion. Is that possibly the issue with you rather than PCR/GCA being the cause?

By the way, as an aside I had a parathyroidectomy 20 yrs. ago. When I started having PMR symptoms it was very reminiscent of the way I felt when I developed hyperparathyroidism. I also have idiopathic small fiber neuropathy which never caused me more than numbness and tingling. That now borders on pain.

None of this really confirms anything other than I'm fearful of losing more teeth.

@pah17
I’m with you on the thought of the osteoporosis meds causing tooth and jaw bone issues. I’m hoping I can quit taking them as my sister in law just had bone fragments come through her gums. She is not currently on the meds but had been on Fosamax in the past.

Somewhat related to topic: 8 months w/GCA, on 60mg Prednisone when I reached out to my Rheumatologist about possible (single tooth) dental implant. Can't say my dental problem is due to GCA...my teeth have never been great. Anyway, this is what she wrote in response: "Cleaning, root canal and crowns are ok to proceed. If you are undergoing a heavier procedure that requires more healing time such as an extraction, implant, or jaw surgery, it is contraindicated until you are titrated (weaned off) to a lower dose of prednisone." "... you can run the risk of the dental implant failing because the prednisone had suppressed your healing. You also run the risk of developing osteonecrosis of the jaw."

My molars are chipping. I wasn’t sure if it was my habit of snacking on ice cubes, but the left side where the jaw pain occurs has needed more dental care. I’m two years diagnosed with both PMR and GCV, which began in a country ER with a doctor still in training. Five days in the hospital with a diagnosis, 60 mg prednisone tapered to Actemrya injections weekly. Now it’s suggested to benign tapering these injections to every other week. Not sure what to expect…

Hmm.. I , too had a tooth crack off a big piece during my PMR initial episode. I never correlated the two. My dentist has refused to do a new crown until I’m off prednisone tho.

Tooth pain is a well documented symptom of GCA. I experienced this 4 months before I developed other symptoms of GCA. It caused part of my molar that had been extensively repaired in the past to break off. A crown was placed successfully but the tooth pain improved only slightly. Neither I, nor the dentist, recognized this as a possible symptom of GCA. I was on a low dose of prednisone at the time, about 3 mg, for PMR, which had been started at 20 mg about 15 months earlier. I developed classical GCA symptoms 4 months later. The tooth pain and GCA symptoms responded completely within about 12 hours to 60 mg of prednisone. I consider myself lucky not to have sustained loss of vision.

The following article is just one of several that can be found about this topic:
https://ddsdentalimplants.com/can-temporal-arteritis-cause-tooth-pain.html

I am a dentist and have had PMR for 35 years and been on and off prednisone for much of that time. I had to have a root canal on a maxillary second molar that was treated with a composite restoration without the use of a rubber day to gain proper isolation. Most dentists do not use rubber dams to gain proper isolation so saliva interferes with proper bonding, thus microleakage and failure. The endodontist missed a fourth canal which he should have found so I continued to have pain then a fistula and retreatment of the failed root canal by another endodontist who found the fourth canal. That root canal also failed so the tooth was extracted. This loss of a second molar had nothing to do with prednisone. This was probably a 10 year series of poor treatment. Thank God it is easy to live with 1st molar occlusion for the rest of my life. I am so glad to be finished with that second molar. For a dentist to loose a second molar takes a lot of help and lots of money. In retrospect I should of had a gold crown placed on the second molar instead of a composite.