Bryanna & Forum Members,

Although Bryanna was kind enough to PM with me last year due to the complexity and severity of my situation, I wanted to post a follow up in the hope that someone may be able to avoid what I went through.

I don't want to be dramatic or write a thesis that is too long to read, we are all busy.

Basically, since my last post, I have been hospitalized 4 times(admitted, not just ER), for stays of 10, 6, 4 and 4 days. I also declined admission against doctors orders 2 other times, and had a number of other ambulance rides to the ER. ALL of this was as a result of, as one dentist put it "Rampant Decay". I had some issues which contributed to my oral health decline like chronic Dry Mouth, partially from medication and from being poorly hydrated. I also had numerous root canaled teeth and together with gum line decay on 90% of my teeth, it all became unmanageable despite constant trips to the dentist for fillings, crown replacements, etc.

I consulted with 2 oral surgeons after being told by my dentist that the damage was out of control, and it was decided that I needed, ulltimately, to have all my teeth extracted, and to develop a plan for either dentures or implants or a combination of both.

Those details are not why I am writing this. Both my dentist and the oral surgeon to whom he referred me joked about me being 'paranoid' about the bacteria. In retrospect, all the procedures my dentist did without a dam, without any barrier to minimize the release of toxic substances as he basically 'aerosol-ed it' (aka weaponized it) and let it all go down my thought (except what was suctioned).

Then the oral surgeon extracted all but 4 of my lower teeth, leaving behind 2 rear molars and 2 incisors that have visible decay to stabilize my temporary lower denture. I was swollen and my system was so traumatized, it was at least a month before I felt semi-normal. So picture a lower jaw after the extractions of infected teeth and the sockets, sutured together, trying to heal next to other infected teeth. And with such a large area of extraction, even though I was sedated, I know a ton of blood and bacteria went down my throat.

The plan was to put in implants on the lower jaw after healing(min 3 months) and then after the implants are fused with the bone(another 6 months, extract those last rotting teeth when the lower restoration was put in.

About a month after that extraction, one morning I became severely ill with nausea and vomited so many times that I had to be rushed to the hospital by paramedic because I could not stay concious and was obviously severly dehydrated.

After 1/2 hour in the ER where they gave me IV Zofran, my temperature spiked to 105 and I was placed in ICU with Sepsis and double pneumonia from inhaling my infected vomit. I donnt remember that first day and a half, but they say that I could easily have died if I hadnt gotten there when I did, or if I didnt respond to the antibiotic coctail.

It took 10 days to get the intestinal infection and the pneumonia well enough to go home. I still work, but I was ordered to rest at home for at least another week, still on multiple oral antibiotics.

I recovered enough to get back to work, eat a very clean and healthy diet, but then tooth #2, my upper right 12 year molar (previously root canal and crown) got an infection at the tip and was in need of immediate extraction, so I went to a young oral surgeon who was available at 4 pm pm on a Friday afternoon, and under nitrous and local he extracted it in pieces. It took about 45 minutes, I could hear all this crunching and breaking, and at one point he said that my tooth was fused to the bone. Then he said that a piece of the root had gone into my maxillary sinus, and after some time spent trying to retrieve it, he said that it will have to either stay there or be removed by an ENT. It also left a fistula. There was an obvious communication noticeable during the surgery, and he said that he didnt want to keep poking around for the root tip out of fear that a fistula would develop. It did, and it didnt heal despite 3 weeks of total caution following all the protocols.

Longer story short, after consultations, they decided that the best they could do was a buccal flat, which was described to me as 'taking a flap of skin from the inside of my cheek and transplanting it across the opening and filling the fistula with
'harvested fat'. What I didnt know was that the flap would remain attached to my cheek, essentially forever sewing my cheek to my gums( with other implications for future restorative work.

The next day I was admitted to the hospital with a severe infection in that whole area and maxillary sinus, the entire side of my face and temple was swollen out to side. Another 6 days in the hospital to get the infection under control so that when it was better, they could schedule a Caldwell Luc procedure to go in and clean out the sinus, get the root tip, and preemptively remove tooth #3, my right side 6th year molar, because its roots were also in the sinus, and they didnt want to have to deal with another potential fistula. The surgery was completed, the necrotic and some polyps removed, the lost root tip, and tooth #3 was removed through the hole made in the gums above my bicuspid for access.

An infection and fistula developed within 2 days of that surgery and after the 2nd surgery to close the fistula, I developed another severe sinus infection that required me to be on multiple IV antibiotics for 5 weeks.

This is not even the entire story.
I dont place blame on the surgeons who got me after the initial large lower extraction and hospitalization. By then my system had been overwhelmed by the nastiest of bacteria, the ones that are in your teeth. After that, I just wasn't healing the way I used to, and, well thats that.

The right side of my face is damaged; my right upper lip is numb and droops lower than the other side. There were so many surgeries in the upper right side of my mouth that it may take years to recover fully.

All of this I believe had its origin in root canals that decomposed and the release of all that bacteria into my system during ordinary unprotected dental procedures and the simultaneous lower extractions of all but 4 teeth, which are still leaching bacteria into my system.

Im doing my best to recover my intestinal flora and build up my own immune system, but only to know that whatever I do next, implants, whatever, will require more antibiotics, and it will literally be years before my gut and immune system will be back to normal (or close)

Dont ever let anyone minimize how toxic oral decay and bacteria can be, and dont let your dentist do procedures with at least a dam to keep the bad stuff from going down your throat. It ruined my health and will ruin yours.
If you have dry mouth, do something about it, it will lead to decay no matter how often you brush and floss.