- Consequences of injury (iatrogenic illness) (medication)
- Xerostomia
- Dental (erosion)
The issue under appeal was whether the worker had entitlement for dental decay as a secondary condition, including entitlement for treatment, fillings, extractions, and dentures, as a result of the xerostomia (dry mouth) caused by the use of opioid medications prescribed for her compensable injury.
The Panel allowed the appeal.The Panel found that the weight of the evidence, including the medical evidence, supported a finding that the worker's use of opioids over a prolonged period from 1999 to 2016, a period of 17 years, likely made a significant contribution to the worker's dental decay. The Panel placed significant weight on the report of the worker's dentist, who had treated the worker from 2013 to 2016, and who based his opinion of causation on a direct examination of the worker's teeth over an extended period. These clinical notes indicated that the worker's dry mouth from medications "can" cause more caries, and that "very likely" dry mouth was a player in multifactorial erosions of enamel. The Panel accepted that the worker's xerostomia (dry mouth) was a significant contributing factor to her tooth decay.