Thanks a bunch for the info! The surgery ended up taking two days. He woke up after 3 hours. He metabolizes medicine fast! Got 20 out of 27 pulled the first day. Had to return on Friday for the last 7, which took about 40 minutes to do. The dentists', who did the surgery said that some of the roots were pushing on his optic nerves. I didn't tell hubby when he woke up. The next day, he noticed changes in his vision (for the better). He can read street signs farther away without glasses, but has to continue to wear them for a few days because he has astigmatism. I told him what the dentists said about the optic nerve thing after he proved to me his vision was different. I did ask the dentists prior to surgery to be on the lookout for sinus perforations, and they said they would close them, if they found any. It took 3 hours to do the top teeth and he's got quite a few stitiches in the top, but none in the bottom. Swelling was fairly minimal, his blood pressure is getting MUCH better (136/88). It was running 163/114 prior to surgery. His color and energy has come back quite a bit already. His sleeping is SO much better! No more snoring, tossing & turning, and choking anymore. He's had follow up care yesterday and has soft liners in both dentures and is doing so much better eating, only has a slight lisp when he says certain things. It's amazing how I'm seeing vast improvement almost instantly. His next follow up isn't until 8 days from now unless he has a severe rub spot, infection, etc.
He wants to wait for a month before going to the eye doctor for a new exam & glasses. He says he wants to make sure the swelling in his cheekbone/eye area is completely gone. Do you think that is reasonable, or should he go in next week?
Again, thanks so much, your advice has given me confirmation to what our dentist was telling me. You made me feel like I was getting a 2nd opinion without him having to go through all the poking & prodding again and confirmed my method of presenting this to our health insurance for some help with the bill.
Amy
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryanna
Hi Amy,
My first thought after reading your post is there may be more to his dental problems than what is thought to be related to his job. Does he have periodontal disease and/or major tooth decay throughout his mouth? Both of these things will cause an elevation in BP and in inflammation throughout the body.
There is a correlation between sinus infections and tooth infections. But it is more likely that an infected tooth could cause/contribute to the sinus problem and not the other way around. Although it's not impossible to occur differently, just not usual. So I'm wondering what the health of his gums and teeth really are. If he has uncontrolled severe periodontal disease and/or rampant unrestoreable decay then extracting all of his teeth may be warranted.
Working tremendous hours in a damp underground mine can be a problem for the respiratory tract and alter the bacteria in the nasal cavity making him susceptible to sinus problems. So he may still have that problem even after his teeth are removed.
With regard to the insurance situation.... the documentation has to come from his physician, his general dentist and his oral surgeon. They have to show just cause as to why they deemed this "medically necessary". Any blood work that he has had done that indicates elevation or abnormal results with any inflammatory/infection markers like C-reactive protein; Fibrinogen, Homocysteine, White Cell Count WITH Differential, Erythrocite Sed Rate, etc. All of these would be evidence pointing to the diagnosis. All medical records pertaining to treatment of sinus infections... all prescription receipts as well as OTC meds he has used for sinus problems.
I don't think the insurance will connect his dental problems to being work related. They may link the sinus problems, but the only way to connect the teeth would be in written evidence from the dentists. Also anything associated with the surgical removal of necrotic bone due to infections and/or cysts that are removed at the time of surgery need to be noted in the surgical report as the insurance may deem the removal of all of that medically necessary.
I don't know of any particular site on the internet that could guide you any differently. The proof has to come from the medical and dental teams treating him. You can gather all of the other information about the blood work, rx receipts, written history of the numerous sinus infection, elevation in BP (would not mention stress as a cause)... etc on your own and present that with the surgical report and the dental bill to the insurance company.
I hope this information has been helpful. I also hope your husband plans on taking some time off of work to recuperate??!
Please keep in touch here...ok 
Bryanna |