Hi Bryanna, Just a little history for you on my case: I had a root canal approx 5-6 years ago. Shortly after I had the root canal tooth extracted and a titanium implant placed. That is when my illness started. It was a gradual onset and I didn't pay attention to symptoms the first year. In Jan 2011 I had the implant extracted and found out it had perforated my maxillary sinus when it was placed. Cone beam ct scan showed the hole in my sinus was healing but my chronic sinusitis persisted.
To answer your question, I have been getting ozone injections from my dr who is MD. He also does acupuncture, homeopathy, etc. I think he calls it integrative medicine. He will use conventional med if there is a benefit but most of his practice is in alternative therapies.
He told me I have a "smoldering infection" from the root canal and implant. To paraphrase him, anytime a foreign body is put into your jaw like that it often brings along bacteria and when it enters your body it turns anaerobic due to the lack of oxygen. Anaerobic infections are almost impossible to kill off because they are so hard to get to. While this infection is smoldering in your body it is producing very powerful toxins, some of which are carcinogenic. I did a quick google search and found a link between root canals and breast cancer. Ozone has been shown to kill anaerobes and that is why he wanted to try it. I felt much worse after the ozone injections so we are holding off for now while we treat the mold and mycoplasma.
From what I gather, the root canal and implant put my immune system a tizzy to say the least and so I keep getting infections that wouldn't make most healthy people sick. I have been under the care of my dr since April 2011 and have been basically putting out fires as they come along, looking forward to regaining my health.
Hoping you are in good health, I haven't read much here yet

Hi Fhen,

When the tooth was extracted, was the implant placed in that site immediately...if not, how long thereafter? When the implant was removed, were there any specimens taken of the surgical site for biopsy and culturing purposes?

At the time of the implant placement, an xray should have been taken to determine the location of the implant in relation to the sinus membrane. I don't know if that was done in your case but if the implant was seen on the xray to have perforated the membrane, then the implant should have been removed immediately. Depending on the size of the perf, it would either be surgically closed over or allowed to heal on it's own. Then after several weeks to a few months, a second surgery could be attempted to place the implant again. If the implant is left in the sinus, infection is imminent and it will be very difficult to eradicate.

One big problem that occurs when a tooth is root canaled is..... the original infection in the tooth becomes even more abundant from the lack of oxygen and blood because the nerves and vessels have been severed during the procedure. The tooth becomes overwhelmed with infection and inflammation which always proliferate through the tooth into the jawbone. The longer the root canaled tooth is present the more deterioration occurs in the jawbone. ANYtime a dental implant is placed in the site of a previously root canaled tooth, the risk of infection and failure are elevated due to the avascular necrosis.

What typically occurs in cases like yours....the bone becomes infected from the root canaled tooth, the implant is placed in infected necrotic bone, and the infection migrates into the sinus cavity. The perforation of the sinus is often a secondary issue to the already compromised jawbone and may have even been open prior to the placement of the implant... just not diagnosed.

I am a huge believer of Integrative medicine and personally feel all medicine and dentistry should be Integrative! Your MD is wise to refer to your condition as a "smoldering infection"... that is right on!! All root canaled teeth are smoldering infections and the mess they leave behind is unmeasurable. He's correct that this type of infection is very difficult to treat. I have to admit that I have never seen ozone injections cure this type of infection, but I have seen it temporarily relieve some symptoms. Has your MD talked to you about aggressive antibiotic therapy at all?

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna,
Sorry for the lapse, I just noticed there was a second page. I am new to websites like this.

Thanks so much for all of the info, I appreciate you taking the time to write all that. It has been approx 2 months since I had ozone injected into my jaw (twice) and although I had quite a bad reaction in my sinus at first (?herxheimer) after about 2 weeks I started feeling much better. I have been in the meantime to see some holistic dentists and they report excellent results with ozone killing off jaw infections from root canal, although they did say sometimes it does not work and debridement is necessary.

I am not sure how long after extraction the implant was placed, it was not right away. It could have been days but I don't think longer than a week or so. Hard to recall as it was 5 years ago. No biopsy was taken, I had no idea what I was getting into but boy did I learn! I am really hoping that the jaw infection is gone. I have been feeling better, still fatigued but have been helped by ozone saunas and insufflation. The ozone is supposed to detox the left over toxins and help boost my immune system.

Do you know anything about a diagnostic machine that can detect cavitations in the jaw? My MD does bioenergetic testing and has been spot on with all of the various problems I have had, but I was wondering what the more conventional approach is?

Thanks so much.

Hi Fhen,

Are you sure the implant was placed within a week after the extraction?? That is way too soon and no wonder you have such a severe infection!!

The machine sometimes used to detect cavitations in the jawbone is called a Cavitat. I am quite familiar with this machine but in all honesty, I am not sold on it's reliability. It is very technician sensitive meaning, you could have it done several times in a row, each time with a different technician and more than likely you will get 5 somewhat different readings. I personally would not rely on this test as a definitive diagnosis.

Conventional dentistry to put it bluntly..... are generally clueless about cavitations. Most general dentists have never diagnosed or treated one. That's not to say that they haven't seen one because they do see them frequently... they just don't deal with them. Biological dentists are more knowledgable about this and some are trained in treating it.

Are you familiar with the IAOMT organization? Their website is IAOMT.org. You may find someone there who could help you.

Keep us posted!
Bryanna

Hello Fhen
I was wondering if you ever found a resolution for your possible jaw infection and sinus issues. I have lots of the same issues, and am currently trying both cavitation surgery and ozone injections. Could you let me know what eventually helped you, if anything?
Thanks so much

After many weird problems, one dentist who extracted my tooth and then did a graft the same day....gave me that Ozone shot after I reported persistent low grade fever. It did not help one bit. My pain worsened....hope it wasn't related, but then again after experiencing some very odd, dangerous and damaging dental situations of late....not much would surprise me. Check, double check, triple check. Assume nothing. I am seeing multiple docs now, for restorative care and second opinions (but the latest trend is to tie up all the docs in the city in one pseudo practice and making it hard to get a second opinion easily). Lately, I have been getting some nice referrals from support groups....people with special needs who believe it or not can least afford to be damaged by medical professionals (like dentists) , but often are the ones who get the most debatable treatment. This might be because some doctors don't want to admit they know little about your special needs and/or they fail to take into consideration other medical issues you might have.

Some thoughts.....seriously consider using an oral surgeon for all oral surgeries and of course if you are having a problem after a dentist has worked on you, get to one FAST!

One caveat......be on the lookout for nerve damage.... A subject often avoided.

Get referrals on all your medical professionals and double check on line for patient referrals/comments. Get second opinions. And if your doctor/dentist refuses to answer your questions or is rude....run like the dickens out the door.

Mark and Bryanna,

I have had cavitation surgery on the two sites upper and lower, where my wisdom teeth were removed. I've also been following up with ozone injections and neural therapy with dental procaine injections. As far as I'm concerned both are a miracle for chronic health problems. I had my surgery at Sanoviv Medical Institute where they have an oral surgeon who specializes in cavitation surgery. This instititute treats a LOT of these cases and they are excellent at finding cavitations.

Bryanna, they also have a cancer program which is really incredible and many breast cancer patients have turned out to have cavitations. They use neural therapy in dental sites identified by the dentists and doctors on x rays of your mouth. They inject with neural therapy (procaine) and take pictures with thermography. The neural therapy injections stimulate heat in the infection of a cavitation and it shows dramatically on a thermogram. Bryanna, a breast cancer patient I was there with told me her thermogram showed the cavitation leading right to her breast cancer.


Mark, I had a lot of headaches after my surgery and inflammation but it died down. I possibly got food in my wounds leaving a small infection that I've been treating with ozone. I think the best therapy is to do both cavitation surgery and ozone. Ozone reaches places that are deeper than the cavitation. I also recommend making your dentist stop injecting the ozone when the burning and pressure start (you don't need 4 cc's to do the job) and doing a course of several more gentle injections using less volume of ozone. It's just as effective to inject 2 cc's of ozone and do a few more injections.

This is a more gentle approach and some people tolerate it better. I got sick the day after my first ozone injection, a die-off type reaction. This isn't uncommon when trying to kill a deep infection. The second injection seemed to push an infection to my throat which has been there fir a week. This is good though, you want it to be out where your immune system has a chance to deal with it properly. In alternative medicine this is called a healing crises. It just means you are pushing it out, but doing more ozone could help finish the job. When you do an ozone injection and don't get a little die-off reaction you are probably finally on top of the infection.

I had a chronic sinus infection before the cavitation surgery and it flared up (after the surgery) after the first ozone injection but then it gargled with warm water mixed with sea salt and it went away. The die off is unpleasant but it's part of the healing process. Don't stop before you're finished. If your body is pushing out toxins, help it until its done. And keep hitting it with ozone until you get ahead. Swish with warm sea salt water a few times a day, it's also great for sinus infections. They sell a "netti Pot" made for irrigating the sinuses with warm sea salt water. You can also add xylitol to kill the bacteria. This may help alleviate symptoms and kill bacteria. All in all, I haven't been this strong, or gad a semi normal immune sytem, or had this much energy in over a decade.

My chronic neck and shoulder problems are GONE, and my chronic headaches are getting better and better. These two therapies are giving me my life back. It hard to imagine dental problems impacting the system do much but it's SO powerful to resolve this. Good luck, I hope this is useful to you!

Bryanna,

Why are the ozone injections so controversial? What are your thoughts on them, if you don't mind sharing. I had an ozone injection after my extraction and I often wondered if that was a good idea or not due to all the issues I have had after this extraction.

Hi Red,

Thanks so much for sharing your dental experience here with us! it is important for people to know that there are alternative methods to explore, however, it is imperative to learn as much as possible about these methods and only allow someone very experienced to perform them. It is also important for the patient to be aware of their post of discomfort following an ozone injection and to report it to their dentist.

I am a little familiar with Sanoviv Medical Institute. One big issue that I have with them is there claim to sterilize a tooth using ozone therapy during a root canal procedure. The ozone may be helpful in <temporarily> reducing bacteria in the large visible canals... but it has zero affect on the microscopic canals. Their claim to be so concerned about the patient's overall health is ironic in this situation when they fail to inform their patients about the toxicity still residing in the tiny canals. They also fail to inform their patients about the toxicity of retaining a non vital tooth in their mouth and how the consequences that can have on the sinus and the brain.... not to mention the rest of the body. So I just want to make that clear that again you need to be mindful and well informed prior to accepting ANY treatment... conventional or alternative.

I am very aware of the connection between breast health (cancer) and oral health. Hopefully sooner than later more literature will be available to the public regarding this issue. Ozone therapy can be helpful with these cancer patients but it is truly just a bandade in those who continue to walk around with root canaled teeth.

I am glad that you are taking this one step at a time and are so aware of your physical being and not hesitant to alter the protocol. I am also glad to hear that you are feeling so well physically!!!!! Let's hope your healing continues to be this positive )

Thanks again for sharing... please stick around and share some more!

Bryanna

Hi mommy2,

The controversy for me comes from those that do not use it properly or market it as a one method kills all magic bullet. Ozone is a very strong oxidant. It needs to be measured, diluted and used very carefully and certain preventative protocols need to be followed during the administration of it or the patient could suffer very ill consequences. In the dental application the most damaging areas of concern are the eyes (if it splashes) or the lungs (if inhaled). So care needs to be taken to be sure to not expose those two areas at all.

There is no way to know if your post op issues were at all caused by the ozone injection especially since you had a previous history of those symptoms in the past which you believe were due to the Levaquin. Correct?

Bryanna