[chokato]

Hello

Here is my story:

During my second pregnancy, I had an untreated abscess on front tooth. It was left untreated throughout the pregnancy about a year. Initial pain but the pain went away so I didn't think it was serious.

During that time, I noticed symptoms such as weird tightness in nose like around the septum and twitching. Then my lips and mouth start to twitch and facial trembling.


After delivery I treated the tooth with root canal(haven't put on crown yet). The dentist said that the bacteria was probably causing the twitching and tingling. Did follow up xrays the bacteria looks like it is gone. I took antibiotics etc.

Before all the twitching and tingling around face occurred (months before) my teeth (fron teeth)would feel like pins and needles but eventually went away. Do I have gum disease? My dad had gum disease. But they looked at my gums it looks healthy. My calcium level is normal all blood test normal.

So now what? I'm still having tightness around septum, nose area and twtiching and tingling around lips both top and bottom 2 months after the tooth was treated. Could the bacteria have caused nerve damage? I feel like when I drink water goes up but no water coming out of nose... it's WEIRD... neuro said for me to go see endo. She doesn't know either. What is wrong with me? It's been a nightmare. Is the bacteria hiding in there still like anerobic bacteria?

[Bryanna]

Hi chokato,

One thing to realize with oral infections is that they usually do not show signs or symptoms until they have been brewing for awhile.....sometimes as long as years. Pregnancy hormones trigger the immune system to send out protective cells to the mother and her baby against offending bacteria so it's not unusual for the signs/symptoms of an infection to surface during pregnancy.

The root canal procedure is designed to remove the visible infectious bacteria/nerves but it cannot remove what the eye or microscope cannot see in the millions of tiny, wavy, microscopic canals. Therefore a tooth that has been root canaled remains infected to some degree. When you combine the long standing infection that you had in this (untreated) tooth with the chronic infection that is in it now.......you can see how the infection is lurking around in that general area of where the tooth is in your mouth. Radiographs bascially give a 2 dimensional picture and often are not enough to diagose a complex problem adequately. Also, it is not uncommon for a dentist to see what he thinks is scar tissue from an infection on the radiograph when in fact (pathologically) it is active infection. I have seen many hundreds of pathology reports of extracted root canaled teeth ... some of these teeth were symptomatic and others weren't...... all of them harbored various degress of multiple infectious bacterias.

One simple explanation of the odd sensations you are having when drinking water......... the bony area above your 6 front teeth is very thin compared to the rest of the mouth. When a long term infection is present in that area, the bone becomes even thinner to non existent which eventually affects the nerves and so forth in that area. Thus you could experience tingling, numbness, pain....... etc.

Perhaps a dental CT scan of the area would be helpful in diagnosing the full extent of the situation before you move forward with additional dental work on it.

I feel bad that you are dealing with this....... try not to worry about the what if's...... get your dentist or doctor to order the CT to help put your mind at ease and come up with a better diagnosis. That way you can discuss your treatment options more effectively with your dentist.

Please keep us posted how you are doing!

Bryanna

Originally Posted by chokato

Hello

Here is my story:

During my second pregnancy, I had an untreated abscess on front tooth. It was left untreated throughout the pregnancy about a year. Initial pain but the pain went away so I didn't think it was serious.

During that time, I noticed symptoms such as weird tightness in nose like around the septum and twitching. Then my lips and mouth start to twitch and facial trembling.


After delivery I treated the tooth with root canal(haven't put on crown yet). The dentist said that the bacteria was probably causing the twitching and tingling. Did follow up xrays the bacteria looks like it is gone. I took antibiotics etc.

Before all the twitching and tingling around face occurred (months before) my teeth (fron teeth)would feel like pins and needles but eventually went away. Do I have gum disease? My dad had gum disease. But they looked at my gums it looks healthy. My calcium level is normal all blood test normal.

So now what? I'm still having tightness around septum, nose area and twtiching and tingling around lips both top and bottom 2 months after the tooth was treated. Could the bacteria have caused nerve damage? I feel like when I drink water goes up but no water coming out of nose... it's WEIRD... neuro said for me to go see endo. She doesn't know either. What is wrong with me? It's been a nightmare. Is the bacteria hiding in there still like anerobic bacteria?

[chokato]

Thank you Bryanna for your very informative post. It looks like you took the time to find an answer for my elusive symptoms and they do make alot of sense.

If you don't mind I am going to print out what you wrote and show it to my neuro and doctor and dentist.

[Bryanna]

Hi chokato,

Absolutely..... print it out and take it with you! Hopefully it will open up some beneficial discussion with your doctors and be of some help to you!

Please let us know how things are going.....

Bryanna

Originally Posted by chokato

Thank you Bryanna for your very informative post. It looks like you took the time to find an answer for my elusive symptoms and they do make alot of sense.

If you don't mind I am going to print out what you wrote and show it to my neuro and doctor and dentist.

[chokato]

Originally Posted by Bryanna

Hi chokato,

Absolutely..... print it out and take it with you! Hopefully it will open up some beneficial discussion with your doctors and be of some help to you!

Please let us know how things are going.....

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna! Hope all is well with you. I saw my dentist today who referred me to an endo. The xray show the root canal front tooth has an overfill. He could not tell me whether or not that was causing my symptoms or whether there is still bacteria in there

So when I got home I started googling root canal overfill and some sites say the material they use contain formaldehyde! Now I am really stressed out. How will I know if my root canals have formaldehyde? Are there any alternatives? I've been trying to avoid this chemical never realizing I have been exposing myself to it through root canals... I currently have 3 root canals

[Bryanna]

Hi chokato,

Formaldehyde was used routinely as a "cleaning agent" to kill bacteria in all root canal procedures up until about 10 or so years ago. However, some dentists still continue to use it even though the literature repetetively states the toxicity of it. I believe it has been banned from dentistry in many parts of the world.

Formaldehyde is not the only toxic concern with root canal procedures. The filling material called gutta percha which is used to "fill" the opened canals inside of the tooth is a rubberized material impregnated with radioactive dye so that it can be seen on radiographs. This material is melted down into the canals...... you may or may not remember smelling something burning near the end of the procedure...... if so, that was it. So not only does that dye remain in your tooth but the burning of it is toxic to inhale as well.

Another issue in your case (very commonly done) is the overfill of the gutta percha material. This means that the end of the root of your tooth was mistakenly punctured with a file instrument (over instrumented) during the root canal procedure and the gutta percha was pushed through the opening into the jawbone. This in of itself causes infection in the bone at the site of the overfill. Frequently in these cases a second root canal procedure or a surgical procedure called an apicoectomy will be recommended.

A second root canal will not cure the infected tooth just like the first one didn't because of the inability to clean out the microscopic canals. An apicoectomy is a surgical procedure that is done through an incision in the gum above/below the tooth. A hole is made in the bone at the end of the root of the tooth. The gutta percha overfill is removed and the root canal procedure is redone from the surgical entry. Then the hole in the bone is filled with a mercury filling and the gum is sutured closed. There are a few things very wrong with this surgical procedure......... One, the surgery is invasive, painful, expensive and barbaric ..... Two, it leaves a permanent defect in the jawbone that invites infection....... Three, the toxic mercury filling used to plug up the entry hole becomes embedded in the jawbone again inviting infection.... Four, the tooth once again has radioactive gutta percha material melted down into the large canals and..... Five, the tooth has been traumatized for a second time and the microscopic canals which cannot be cleaned out are still harboring infectious bacteria so the tooth remains infected.

During a root canal procedure the large canals are irrigated with some form of antibacterial agent in an attempt to kill some of the bacteria. The agent can be formaldehyde, bleach, peroxide or a combination. Irrelevant of what is used, there is no possible way to remove or flush out all of the bacteria because the inside walls of the canals are not solid, they have microscopic openings that harbor bacteria. Also, the scraping of the canals with the files causes additional openings. Some dentists try to sell patients on using a laser during a root canal procedure to kill the bacteria in the canals........ keep in mind that a laser beam can only travel in a straight line.....the tiny canals are very curvy so the laser never reaches them. Sometimes dentists will tell a patient they use a microscope to tell them they have removed all of the bacteria......again, there is no access to the tiny, curvy canals so they can't be tested.

I know this information is not what you want to hear. I'm sorry that there is no safe or effective way to sterilize a sick tooth and make it better. The only sure way to rid yourself of any probable infection from an unhealthy tooth is to have the tooth removed. In your case with your front tooth.... if it were removed, the area where the overfill of gutta percha is will be cleaned out thoroughly during the extraction and bone graft material may be put in that defect to encourage new growth of bone. Your dentist could talk to you about replacement options....... if you want to discuss them here, let me know.

I truly wish there was an easier answer ..... I really do

Bryanna

Originally Posted by chokato

Hi Bryanna! Hope all is well with you. I saw my dentist today who referred me to an endo. The xray show the root canal front tooth has an overfill. He could not tell me whether or not that was causing my symptoms or whether there is still bacteria in there

So when I got home I started googling root canal overfill and some sites say the material they use contain formaldehyde! Now I am really stressed out. How will I know if my root canals have formaldehyde? Are there any alternatives? I've been trying to avoid this chemical never realizing I have been exposing myself to it through root canals... I currently have 3 root canals