Originally Posted by Bryanna

Hi greany,

I am in the dental field and can try to help you. I'm sorry you are going through all of this.... I can imagine how difficult it must be.

The molar behind the extraction has either dark stain or a cavity on the (mesial) side nearest the extraction. It also appears to have a chip out of either a filling an/or the tooth itself in the back biting portion (distal occlusal). Is the last molar removed or decayed? On the picture it appears very dark like a new extraction site or a badly decayed tooth.

Thank you so much for responding, Bryanna. #15 does have a stain on it, it's a 'small issue', according to my dentist, that he didn't want to touch, yet, because I've been in minor hysterics over this extraction issue. The wisdom tooth hole is just a dark spot, I had that out over 15 years ago. I think the picture isn't the greatest, sorry about that--I appreciate you interpreting it, even with flaws.

Regarding root canals.... teeth that have been endotontically treated are never made healthy again. The procedure does not remove all of the necrotic nerve tissue from the microscopic canals rendering the tooth chronically infected. So this tooth has been infected for at least 12 years. So that will give you some indication of how sick this tooth and the bone had become. With that said, it is not all that unusual for someone to complain of lingering pain, burning pain, even neurological type pain after an extracted root canaled tooth.

This calms me a bit. The dentist who had it removed thought that I had shingles, when I called, almost crying with pain. I have no rash, but I know that there is a form of herpes that is 'silent' without a rash, and can affect the trigeminal nerve. It has been so frustrating having this, because it is obvious that most doctors are not that familiar with it, here, at least. The pain was so profound, and I kept reporting it to my healthcare practitioners as such, and they kept minimizing it. It started to make me feel depressed, and a little crazy.

What is interesting is that you had the tooth root canaled 12 yrs ago.... you've had joint pain/fatigue for 12 years. Could there be a correlation? Maybe. There has been a long history of chinese medicine that believes our teeth are connected to the rest of the body. Each tooth shares meridians or nerve pathways to other specific areas of the body. Here is a chart showing the correlation between the teeth and other areas of the body.


This is very interesting! I will take some time to look into this more.

A few other things come to my mind while reading your post...

One.. you said you grind your teeth. This alone can and will cause various pain in the head, neck, face, shoulder...etc. Even more so when there is any trauma in the mouth like an infection and/or oral surgery. Wearing your occlusal guard on one side and not the other is bound to throw things off also.

I agree. I just didn't expect it to create so much pain. Again, I am not used to this type of pain--I feel like it was multiple types combined. Aching, searing, emotional, etc. I didn't want to bite down on the sore teeth on an acrylic bite guard, things were so tender.

Two... the antibiotic Levaquin is known for causing toxicity with lingering side effects... similar to what you have described. It is beyond an intolerance it is a toxicity. This has become a great concern over the last few years because so many people have become affected by it. Support groups are popping up like crazy. You may want to google levaquin toxicity and see if any of it relates to what you are going through. Make sure you mention the Levaquin IV and then your reaction to the oral rx to the cardiologist.

I definitely will--I have that appointment this morning. I had no idea.

Three.... Are you rinsing with anything? The extraction site looks irritated, almost burned. Are you rinsing with Listerine or anything like that? Are you rinsing with peroxide or chlorhexidine (peridex)? Do you use a fluoridated and/or whitening toothpaste?

I have been rinsing with sea salt and very, very occasionally I have been rinsing with a blue peroxide rinse. I did read that can burn, so I only do it occasionally. I am currently using Sensodyne. The redness, I feel, is due in part to the inflammation that lives in my body, and my messed up GI tract. I regurgitate some acid in the night and when I awake I have an acidic mouth. Things are red. One other weird thing to note, after the surgery, my skin was redder only on the left upper side of my body, including my arms. Like a drier, redness. My mom thinks that I had a bad reaction to the several shots of epi-free numbing agent, but we're shooting in the dark. Today, I woke up with bite splints intact on both sides, some tenderness on the gum above the extraction site, some burning pain in my skin on the head, neck, shoulders, that slowly dissipates, and some general around the eye pain. Nausea is a 5 on a ten scale, that also tends to go away in the late afternoon. Sleep was unrefreshing. Doing my best--glad that the pain is not nearly as intense as it was two weeks ago. Neuro pain can be extremely scary, especially if you're not expecting it/not accustomed to it.

Bryanna