Jeanie,

Glad to heat that your eating more foods... and they sound yummy too!

As for the antibiotic... that is only something the doctor can prescribe for you to continue. I cannot say one way or the other at this point.

The stinging pain in the gum radiating up into the eye can be a nerve pain. But it does not mean it will become severe or permanent. It is not uncommon to end up with some ulcers on the gum or near the extraction sites about 4-10 days post op the extractions. The salt water rinsing will help ease the pain and keep the bacteria down. These also occur in patients who have been on antibiotics as the lining of the oral cavity becomes susceptible to ulceration from the lack of good bacteria in the intestinal tract. Do you take a probiotic supplement? I know you eat yogurt but unless it is home made non sugar, non fruit yogurt it is not supplying you with adequate good bacteria. Any type of sugar or sugar substitute will kill the good bacteria in yogurt. It is best to eat an organic, plain yogurt and add your own fruit when you eat it.

Yea, I understand why you are questioning the surgeons surgery. To you it seemed too simple and too quick and the nurse said he suctioned out the ligament. You also assume he did these things because he talked about future implants. The surgery may have been a bit longer than you realized and the nurse may have said what she did to avoid the full explanation. Those are possibilities.

If the surgeon tells you he did not remove the ligament or scrap out the diseased bone, then tell him you were told by your dentist that would be done and that is what you expected. Ask him the consequences of not removing those things. He may say... the body will take care of it. Ask him how that miraculously happens? Tell him you want the socket to be clean of infection and any residual ligament. Not only because you may have an implant at some point but because you have diabetes. It is up to the surgeon to decide if he should open the area up after 2 weeks or so. You will just have to see what he says. The healing from a surgical debridement is similar to an extraction.

You're right, I cannot tell you what the surgeon is thinking. I can only tell you what I've witnessed in my lengthy chair side career. I am here to help you be your own advocate... I wish I could do more, but hopefully this information is valuable enough for you to ask him the questions until you get the answers.

Keep us posted.....
Bryanna

Hey Bryanna,

Today was the first day that I was able to eat without stinging and pain in the gum. The salt and warm water is definately doing the trick.

I only started taking probiotics on Monday, Iv been on antibiotics since the end of January and didn't take any probiotics because someone told me they are killed by the antibiotic, then I read one of your posts to someone else saying to take them 2 hours before or after the antibiotic. So Iv been doing that since Monday and bought a better strength one today to start now the antibiotics are finished.

I have a mixture of yogurts in the fridge, organic greek yogurt and some fruit ones too. I checked the fruit ones and they do have artificial sweetener in them so I better avoid them now.

Im taking pain killers for the pain in my jaw and face, I stocked up on lots of vitamins, some soups and soft food, and I was finally able to chew some actual food today! I plan on laying low over the weekend, rinsing with salt water, getting good nutrition and rest and fingers crossed I will get the answers Im looking for Monday when I make my phonecalls. Wish me luck!

Jeanie
xx

Hi Jeanie,

Sounds like you're doing ok!! YAY!

Yea, avoid the artificial sweetener as much as possible. I know diabetics search for a "sweetener" but you would be better off with Stevia (the one without the dextrose). Nothing artificial about it

Continue on the probiotics <indefinitely> if possible. It is always beneficial to have an abundance of good bacteria in your intestines.

Keep in touch....
Bryanna

I was following the post. I had my RC teeth removed when I experienced problems. It would have been more money to a profession that does this proceedure knowing it is only a temporary fix. The money they make is outragous. I have a partial in the space now, and no more problems. This is where I learned the truth about RC. I will never have another!!! I sure hope that things turn out OK for you. ginnie

Thanks Ginnie

I hope this will be the end of my dental woes too, glad to to hear you found the truth and dealt with it when you could. Im so annoyed at how we are misled. I had my first RCT a few years after being diagnosed with diabetes I was about 27, I was just glad to have the pain stop, I thought I was in good hands and that would be the end of the matter. It never crossed my mind what was going on below the surface at all kinds of levels.

I feel really vulnerable now as you just never know whats going to go wrong next and there doesn't seem to be many dental professionals with your best interests at heart out there. I will never trust an endodontist again I know that much. They should be arrested for putting peoples health at risk like this.

Im so glad to have found this site though, its been a real eye opener and great support. Im happy to hear you have no problems with the partial, the OS wants me to see him about an implant in few months but Im not going to go there, I dont have the money and after everything thats happened Im not risking more infections on top of my existing problems.

My mother lost most of her teeth by the time she was in her 30's, she has worn dentures as long as I know her and I always felt sorry for her and thought that would never be me, but lately with everything thats happened Iv come to terms with it, she's told me that they dont bother her at all and compared to the pain and expense she had with her actual teeth shes a much happier person with dentures. I changed my appointment for temporary denture fitting in 2weeks to 2 months so I can get a more permanent one done instead. So there will be no more RCT.. its dentures all the way for me from now on!

Jeanie
xx

Hey Bryanna

I saw stevia in town yesterday but thought it may be one of the baddies and ignored it so Il have to check it out now.

I found another bottle of probiotics I had hidden away and forgot about so I have an abundance of them in the house now haha, just have to get them where they need to be and Il be up and running again hopefully.

Again Bryanna I can't thank you enough for your avice and thoughfulness the last few weeks it has been a huge support to me and I really appreciate it.

Jeanie
xx

HI Jeanie,

You are very welcome.... you've been an excellent patient )

Stevia is ok to use.... just make sure it does not contain dextrose.

Make sure the probiotics that you found have not expired and it is best to store them in the refrigerator.

Happy to hear you are doing well!!

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna, I'm back again!

Had a check up on the extraction area a few weeks ago and was told that I had great bone growth in the area, that usually there would be a reduction but everything looked very good and was advised I would be a good candidate for implants, as I said before I don't have the money for implants. So the plan was to go get a denture fitted in the meantime and if money appears from somewhere look into implants in the future. I was also advised to have an old mercury filling on the opposite side of where the extractions are removed and replaced with the dentist after I had sorted the denture.

Problem is, I have had a bit of pain in that tooth the last week, which I put down to a lot of extra chewing there to compensate for the loss of the teeth on the other side. Yesterday and today this tooth is throbbing! Hot and cold are also aggrevating it. Also my Blood sugars not so good for a little over a wk.

I rang my dentist, and turns out he is away till next Friday, the dental nurse said it sounds like infection and has sent me a prescription for antibiotics and put me in for appointment next Friday, she said she didn't want to scare me but the fact that I had had an abscess and bad infection on the other side made it sound likely that this was what was happening on the other side.

The plan is to have the filling removed and replaced, she said that if this can't be done it may need RCT, I said I would not be getting another RCT ever again and would have to opt for extraction.

I was just wondering about your opinion on this new dilemma. If there is an abscess on this tooth and a filling won't do I presume I'm right in thinking my only option is extraction if I want to avoid RCT?

Again any advise much appreciated.

Hope you're doing well
Jeanie

Hi Jeanie,

Glad to hear that you are healing well and your bone level looks good!
As time goes on the bone will depreciate some... everyone is different so no one can tell you how much.

Regarding the painful tooth...it could very well be aching from all of the chewing. Hot and cold don't necessarily indicate an infection.... although it could. It could also indicate a fractured tooth and/or a fractured or open filling in the tooth. When a nerve is dying the tooth it is usually sensitive to HOT temps and cold actually relieves the pain. When a tooth is sensitive to COLD temps it tends to be decay or the need for a new filling.

Make sure you take probiotics if you are going to take the antibiotics. )

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna,

It's been a while now since I last posted, I saw my dentist in May, he filed down the tooth which was hurting me and I haven't had much problems with it since then.

I got a temp partial denture fitted for the extraction sites to wear to a friends wedding in September. The problem is it's very bulky and feels like I'm eating plastic so I don't wear it often, I tried it last week after not wearing for a month but it didn't fit! I went to the dentist and he said the tooth at the back which holds the metal clasp had moved forward and that I really need to wear it more often or get implants sorted otherwise my teeth will keep moving and my bone will become less and less in the area. He filed the back tooth and filed a bit of the denture and now it's too loose. I'm going back to the denture place tomorrow for him to fix it properly.

The dentist advised me to wear it at least 2 to 3 nights per week (but the person who made the denture said not to wear it at night) and to wear it as much as possible during the day, but he also said that he didn't like these kind of dentures because they damage the gum underneath them. I'm confused as to whether it's a good idea to have this denture at all.

I can't afford a new denture or implants at the moment, my plan is to hopefully get implants eventually but not for a few years, I get the impression from my dentist that if I leave it too long I won't be a good candidate for implants? I'm a bit weary of putting anything in the area that was infected previously too, and also have heard some scary stories about the material used in implants being as bad as RCT and mercury etc. Do I really want to put more damaging substances in the area that I had such problems with. But then again I don't want my teeth moving and causing me more problems in the near future and maybe even more extractions.

I grind my teeth pretty bad, have ate through previous night guards (guards tailor made for me by the dentist costing hundreds of euros). A few years ago I got an NTI Device from a clinic, it seemed to do a great job stopping me from grinding, a few months ago the device broke, I showed my dentist and the person who did my denture to see if they could fix it, and they both said that this device was very bad for my teeth and jaw and would cause more damage than good, I stopped using it but have been grinding a lot since stopping. What is your opinion on these NTI devices and what alternatives are there for someone who eats through regular night guards!?

Would love to hear your opinion on implants and any of the above!

Thanks so much
Jean