posted
DocDave if you are around....or anyone else who has had experience with getting dental implants....what are the implications for those of us with lyme? It is being discussed right now, by my dentist and a specialist to see if I am a canidate. Besides having Lyme, I also have osteoporosis already (per bone density test)and low IGM. I am only 52 yrs old.
-------------------- Corinne Posts: 529 | From Raleigh, NC | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
Excerpt from a previous post on another thread:
I would not consider replacing any missing teeth with an implant after reading about the risks pointed out by DAMS International which are as follows:
1. The bite can be too hard, the fixture, collar, and tooth system lacks the periodontal ligament shock-absorbing cushion that a natural tooth has.
2. The gums do not snug up to an implant the way they do with a natural tooth, leaving an opening for bacteria to travel down into the jawbone.
3. Patients who have lost teeth may not have properly healthy jawbones for holding the implant. Smokers, diabetics, people with osteoarthritis, periodontal disease or jawbone disease are poor risks for implants.
4. There is the concern over the implantation of the titanium or titanium-aluminum-vandadium alloy into a jawbone. It raises allergy and toxicity concerns. The titanium alloy is used instead of pure titanium in order to decrease susceptibility to corrosion and to improve the material's strength. But vanadium and aluminum need to be avoided because of toxicity concerns. Even titanium can cause allergic reaction in a significant fraction of the population. Hal Huggins says "I have personally seen multiple sclerosis stimulated within one week of placing titanium implants. The compatibility test showed titanium to be compatible, yet it caused MS." Some dentists are using zirconia as a better alternative to the metal base.
5. Given that the typical life span of a tooth implant is 10 years, neither the high cost, nor the risks are justifiable.
-------------------- -chaps �Listen to the bell, Borrelia. It tolls for thee!� Posts: 631 | From A little place called, "we'll see." | Registered: Apr 2010
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posted
wow. had no idea. yikes....got to give this some serious thought for sure.
-------------------- Corinne Posts: 529 | From Raleigh, NC | Registered: Jun 2006
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stymielymie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 10044
posted
well my implant has been in 18 years it is hydroxyappatite coated and pure titanium. i have two titanuim and teflon knee implants as do many others in the country. it is like any material in the body. if you are sensitive to it it will be rejected. most implants have a longer life than conventional crowns. proper hygiene care around implant will prevent many rejection and infection problems. docdave
Posts: 1820 | From Boone and Southport, NC | Registered: Sep 2006
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GiGi
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 259
posted
If you have any infection in your body or don't know what you have that makes you unwell, don't do implants. I had one implant and it was the first to go when I contracted Lyme. Different metals in the mouth cause galvanic currents and create neuro problems which are not pleasant.
A majority of people are allergic energetically to titanium not detected by standard allergic testing and even more are allergic to gold and palladium. See www.melisa.org and google oral galvanism in the mouth caused by multiple metals dental material. Read the amalgam thread running here a few days ago.
Take care.
Posts: 9834 | From Washington State | Registered: Oct 2000
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mojo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9309
posted
I have an IOMT dentist and he put in a titanium implant in me a year or so ago. I've had no issues, thankfully.
My other dentist would have put in a root canal(my husband still goes to him), but my dentist is Lyme Literate and doesn't recommend root canals in his Lyme patients.
Posts: 1761 | From USA | Registered: May 2006
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posted
I remember reading an artcile one time entitled "put your money where your mouth is."
The theme of the article is that most health problems encountered by humans are rooted (no pun intended), or can be correlated to something in the mouth that shouldn't be there.
A dentist once told me that the mouth is the dirtiest, most germ-filled orifice in the entire body, BAR NONE. That's right, including the one where the sun doesn't shine. And he said if the mouth is kept healthy, the rest of the body will be healthy. Some researchers have evidence that root canals are the cause of a wide variety of cancers that show up elsewhere in the body.
Having root canals, metal restorations, invasive things such as implants with metal implanted right into the bone is just looking for trouble.
Lyme patients should be looking to get as much OUT of their mouths as they can, not looking to put more foreign things into their mouths.
Oh sure, you can always point to this person or that person and say, well gee, this person has had amalgams, implants, whatever for x amount of years and never had a problem.
Again, I point to the cigarette smoking analogy. We know that smoking is bad and can destroy the health of even the healthiest specimens on the planet and you still can find people who have smoked for 55 years and haven't yet had a problem. Does that mean you should go ahead and smoke?
The fact of the matter is that Lyme patients' health is already seriously compromised. They can't handle as many insults to the body as a healthy person, particularly over the long term.
Basic tenets for a Lyme person should be, good things in, bad things out, and get good sleep.
Since the mouth is such a critical area, this translates to no amalgams, no implants, no root canals, no jawbone cavitations.
As much as vanity prevents us from considering dentures (they seem to be regarded as your father's Oldsmobile) it's going to be the best solution for most Lyme patients.
Dentists make their livings doing restorations. They want to convince you to "save" your teeth, meaning keep them in your head even if they are dead and diseased. Part of this plays into vanity and the shame of having missing teeth, or dentures. The other thing that should be kept in mind is that once a tooth is gone, it is no longer a source of revenue for dentists. That is why they are against extractions--unless of course you want to put in an implant. If a tooth is gone, they can't make any more money doing stuff to it. At least with an implant, they get to gouge you for several thousand bucks one last time for old time's sake. And even then, they make more money when the implant fails.
Sometimes the best choices for our well-being are the ones we like the least.
-------------------- -chaps �Listen to the bell, Borrelia. It tolls for thee!� Posts: 631 | From A little place called, "we'll see." | Registered: Apr 2010
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mojo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9309
posted
I'm sure you are corrrect, Chaps - but I'll take my implant as long as I'm OK.
Would I do it again? Not sure.
Posts: 1761 | From USA | Registered: May 2006
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posted
Well sure, since it's already there, it doesn't make sense to mess with it any further. You've already beaten the odds to this point and maybe you'll stay lucky on this one. But I agree that it is wise not to assume that you'd be this lucky twice in a row.
-------------------- -chaps �Listen to the bell, Borrelia. It tolls for thee!� Posts: 631 | From A little place called, "we'll see." | Registered: Apr 2010
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posted
I have a bovine pericardium patch in the back of my head/brain. Was placed during surgery for chiari malformation 4 months ago.
A nightmare.....Had an initial "reaction" that lead to a severe case of chemical menigitis that lead to 3 months of steriods...
While bovione patches have the least amount of rejection in brain surgery I still had a very strong reaction to it - in my guess due to still having lyme or a compromised immune system from lyme. Bovine is like 90%+ bio-compatable
Still not sure if I am rejecting it or not..Time will tell. But the moral of the story..be very careful with placing anything forgien in your body no matter how bio-compatable it may be.
Our immune systems are just not like others. TG
Posts: 376 | From New Jersey | Registered: Jun 2009
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lymeboy
Unregistered
posted
I have a missing tooth. It was pulled 2 years ago....a month or so before all my problems started. My fear is losing the tooth behind it, after the bone starts wearing away. The dental school I go to for treatment has offered me an implant at a pretty low price. I am so inclined to get it, but This post makes me hesitate. I really don't know what to do. I don't want to lose any more teeth.
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There are a bunch of rumors that they will be bad for you.
Sorry, but I'm in Dentistry AND I have lyme and co.
Do what's best for your smile and mouth.
And remember, that stress brings on a bunch of herxes and feeling icky, so sometimes, your stress of the dental visit will do more harm to you than the implant.
-------------------- Lyme, Babs, Fry Bug..... Whatever it is, may a treatment be discovered to make us all whole again! Posts: 941 | From AZ-MT | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote: from chaps: the mouth is the dirtiest, most germ-filled orifice in the entire body, BAR NONE.
quote: also from chaps: Basic tenets for a Lyme person should be, good things in, bad things out, and get good sleep.
quote: from docdave: it is like any material in the body. if you are sensitive to it it will be rejected.
quote: also from docdave: proper hygiene care around implant will prevent many infection problems
I can't remember ever seeing an infection that wasn't caused by patient neglect.
So, by all means, if you are not going to practice proper oral hygiene procedures cordor, don't do it.
Lyme patients -or any chronically ill person- must be diligent about their dental hygiene, whether or not they have implants or crowns or amalgams or none of the above.
If not, they're asking for trouble. At least, they're rolling the dice.
Can we take responsibility for our roles in this at some point in time?
Posts: 797 | From New York | Registered: Feb 2008
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