Sydney,
The office I work in uses digital radiography. The radiation exposure is minimal to both the patient and the office staff. Any exposure is not good, but to monitor areas of the mouth that cannot be seen with the eye, radiographs are an absolute necessity.

To give an example of how we monitor the surgical healing phases..... After an extraction and the initial post op appointment, we see that patient in one month for their first post op xray. Then based on those findings, we see them once every 2 months for an xray of the area, for the next 4-6 months. When the bone has filled in properly, we place the implant. During the implant surgery we take 2-4 xrays to monitor the angle and length of the implant. Over the next 6 months, we see the patient every 2 months for an xray to monitor the integration of the bone and implant. An implant crown is placed once the integration is complete and the patient has been symptom free. We take a final xray to see that the margins on the abutment and implant crown are solid.

In your husband's case, based on what you have stated, if the restorative dentist took an xray prior to placing the implant crown and the area looked healthy, then either there was marginal leakage in the abutment or the implant crown, or something got contaminated during the placement and it was just enough to set off an infection. It is almost impossible to determine what actually occured.

I work in the field of Biological dentistry. Those who truly practice this form of dental care are more than just tooth carpenters, they are well informed doctors who treat their patients from an overall perspective and not just their teeth. The goal is to bring no harm to the patient by utilizing the least toxic and most biocompatible materials. We also are well read on the residual affects caused by root canaled or infected teeth. Where as the main stream practitioner is basically clueless about the detrimental side effects of keeping a dead tooth in ones head. I guarantee that 9.5 out of 10 mainstream dentists have no clue about deafferentation neuralgia. Especially as it is associated with the removal of nerve material from the inside of a tooth as well as from the cutting of the main nerve fibers that branch out of the tooth into the jawbone during a root canal procedure. I spent over 20 years in main stream dentistry and never once did I hear acknowledgment of that condition being associated with a dead tooth. Based on what I have learned over the last 10 years, compiled with what I have witnessed throughout my career............ I have no doubt whatsoever that there is a definite correlation between facial neuralgias and root canaled, infected teeth or infected jawbone. The tooth is a living organ and it needs a healthy blood supply in order to remain healthy. When it becomes infected or traumatized during a root canal procedure, the main blood supply is cut off as the nerves are severed and the surrounding area that was once highly vascular is now ischemic. The end result is disruption or death of the nerve fibers that once nourished that tooth. It is very common for people to complain of tooth pain/discomfort in a root canaled tooth........ and that's in part due to the neuralgia that has set in to those once vascular nerve bundles.

Our office does not perform root canals. It is always a patients option to have one done elsewhere if that is the treatment that they choose to have. We see people from all over the country who have gone from one dentist to another seeking help for their chronic pain. We get alot of referrrals from integrative physicians who have patients with all sorts of health problems and dental histories of root canals, infections, and various facial traumas. We are not a pain specialty practice, but we work with dentists who are.

A good friend of mine, Dr Robert Kulacz, had a surgical practice in NY State that he limited to treating patients with various oral infections. He wrote a book with a cardiologist entitled The Roots of Disease, Connecting Dentistry and Medicine.

I'm sorry that you are in such pain. My sister has RSD and fibro and a sleu of other unpleasant conditions. She is always hurting too :-(( When you are able to write some more, I'll try to help you with your question on bifurcation.

Take care,
Bryanna