I have read a number of times on here about these little lyme critters hanging out in root canals. Is this all root canals or just botched ones? What can we do to "fix this" without having teeth pulled?
Posted by chaps (Member # 25286) on :
From what I understand, it's ALL root canals. There is apparently a pocket at the tip of the root(s) that harbors microbes.
I have one root canal tooth that I've had for over 10 years. About 7 years after it was done, I was feeling some pain on that tooth. I went in and the endodontist took an xray which showed a large pocket at the root of the tooth and told me that it was abscessed. She drilled it out, went in and cleaned out the area of abscess, then put in a post and filled it up again.
A post-op xray was taken a week or so later. The pocket was much smaller but nevertheless still there. She told me that there's always going to be a pocket there and as long as the tooth is giving no pain and there's no large abscess, it should be OK. I'm sure that even these small pockets allow all kinds of pathogens to be harbored there, leaving the door open to all kinds of problems. Now that I have Lyme, I'm going to have that tooth pulled.
Some researchers say that root canals harbor viruses that cause cancers and go as far as to predict what kind of cancers and where in the body they will occur according to which teeth have the root canals. They also say that root canals can cause heart disease.
Unfortunately, to my knowledge, the only safe option is pulling them, and even that is not enough, according to some. They say that after extraction of a dead tooth, the bone must also be cleaned and made free of infection, otherwise the infection can fester and spread to other teeth, or other places in the body and cause trouble.
Implants are not a good solution after the fact. They are invasive, super-expensive, not long-lasting (10 years?), and can cause all sorts of problems with the bone. Stainless steel posts have caused a lot of people problems and as a result zirconia is now being used by some dentists.
Unfortunately, there isn't a healthy solution to dead teeth except extracting them and cleaning the bone, then using bridges, partials, and like prosthetics.
A really unfortunate situation occurs when a patient has a porcelain crown installed for about $3000, then the tooth dies from the trauma of the drilling and crowning. Now, you've got to pay to have the tooth extracted, the bone cleaned, and then have the appropriate prosthetic applied. The 3K for the crown then becomes money thrown out the window. --Not to the dentist, of course. That 3K is good for a couple of lease payments on his Mercedes.
If anyone knows different, I'd love to hear it because I've got some old crowns that need replacing and I'm not confident that the teeth will survive all that drilling again.
Posted by organictexan (Member # 27653) on :
I had a root canal of a very back, upper molar in 1999. Over the years, I would have pain and my dentist said there should be no pain as it was a dead tooth. I attributed it to referred pain from muscular trigger points in my neck. Fast forward to August 2010 and I'm feeling like the tooth is abcsessed, throbbing like crazy. My dentist was out of town, saw one in my office building. He shows me that the tooth is infected and that there is also STILL A ROOT IN THAT TOOTH! He wanted me to go to an endodontist so over the weekend, I started doing some research and discovered all the horrors lurking in a root canal. Decided to see an oral surgeon and have the tooth extracted.
Interesting thing happened though, when the tooth initially started hurting, the dentist gave me VCillin and hydrocodone. I didn't necessarily want to take the antibiotics because I just don't like taking them, but because of the pain, decided I'd better. On the fifth day of taking the antibiotics I woke up with strep throat. Interesting that I got strep while on penicillin...hhhmmm!!!
My naturopath told me his wife had breast cancer about 10 years ago in her left breast. Incidentally, she had three root canals on that side of her mouth. Coincidence? I think not!
Posted by tickalert (Member # 7033) on :
What is the option if you have multiple root canalas like I do?
I have 8 root canaled teeth...yikes.
Posted by hadlyme (Member # 6364) on :
I have endo treated teeth too (root canals).
I had them done correctly the first time. No problems.
I have lyme/babs/bart.... never have had problems with any of my endo treated teeth.
If you have a pocket at the apex... then you either have had a dentist perferate the apex (end of the root) or you've had an apico done, where they surgically lay a flap and drill the end of the root out and then fill it with alloy.
Sometimes abcesses will 'eat' away the bone at the end of the root if it's been abcessed too long. This would leave a 'hole' as such. But again, if this is done correctly by a good endo or gp dentist, there should be no other problems.
I myself, will not have my endo treated teeth removed. No reason to. They do not bother me.
There are some in here that will tell you to extract them.......
You need to decide what's best for yourself.
I have been in dentistry for over 23 yrs now.
Posted by GiGi (Member # 259) on :
Root canaled teeth create one of the worst toxins and in any cancer situation, the first thing that is addressed by Dr. K. are the root canals. The toxin is similar to the toxin a dead body creates and that is the reason we embalm people. It is the worst carcinogen known, called mercaptans and thioethers. The root canal is actually a dead tooth which creates these toxins. The toxin moves throughout the body and is not only in the jaw/bone.
You do not want to fight this, because you are never going to win. It may be fine right now, but research shows clearly that eventually all root canals fail.
The funny part - most do not hurt. But the environment is very inviting to any nasty microorganism.
If I had to do it over again, I would pull the tooth and start a partial, with even one tooth on it, out of a material that is combatible.
Root canals would have killed me if I had kept them. I was well on my way, but started to heal once my mouth was cleaned out.
Yes, you need to decide what's best for yourself. It is a nasty issue that belongs on the front page. Give it serious investigation and thought if you want to get well from Lyme and other infections. I did get well and am only here for support to people who want it.
Take care.
Posted by Marnie (Member # 773) on :
First...rinse and spit good old liquid Pepto Bismol.
Leave the "residue" in your mouth for awhile. In other words, don't follow it with water.
Personally, I'd leave my mouth alone for about 1/2 hour for the bismuth to do its thing.
Then I'd rinse my mouth with water.
Then...I would use the following:
"Magic mouthwash".
Rinse and spit with liquid benadryl (kids) and maalox.
To counter histamine which happens when many pathogens are knocked off.
Something to evaluate and consider for YOURSELF, but sure is something I, personally, would give a "try".
I hate dentists and the thought of root canals...removing the nerve and leaving a hollow space for germs...requires thought.
Posted by Heleneh (Member # 21207) on :
I have lyme and most of the coinfections. I had several root canals which all went bad and I needed to have the root canal tooth removed anyway. Last week I had pain with a molar, but I was on antibiotics so it was a slow progression. The dentist I go to takes out the cavitation along with the tooth. Most dentists will not work on me because my platelets are low. My dentist and the only dentist I will go to because I trust his decisions, removes a cavitation along with the tooth. My healing is just as good as when my blood counts were normal. Also can't tell you how much better I feel. Anytime I have trouble with my teeth I get tachycardia. Since that tooth and cavitation is gone my heart rate is normal and I feel so much better. I really trust my dentist and he has made a huge different in my life. He understands how lyme can affect teeth and the heart.
Posted by GiGi (Member # 259) on :
Note relation between heart and wisdom teeth. Often the case even when wisdom teeth no longer there, but infection remains.
Posted by Heleneh (Member # 21207) on :
A big part for me was the cavitation being removed. It took out the infection. I feel so much better. In the past only the tooth was removed and I was still sick, but now that I go to a dentist who removes the pocket of infection by cavitation removal, it has been a big difference for me in how I feel.