[Millerprof]

Hello!

My story is long but I'll try to be brief! I was diagnosed with RSD (CRPS) in 2007 after a foot surgery. This resolved after about 1 1/2 years and lots of physical therapy, getting the screws removed, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

After recovering my life was pretty great, up until about a year ago. After my RSD, 2 root canals I had previously done failed. In one of them (#19) the root was totally reabsorbed and had to be extracted (along with quite a bit of bone and tissue). About a year following that I extracted second failed root canal (#30; it was reinfected and I didn't think the chances of saving it were all the great considering with what happened to #1). I had a bridge made for #30 (had to shave down healthy teeth to make that happen, but I was afraid of how my body would respond to implants since my RSD started after a surgery involving screws and resolved after having them removed). Since the bridge, #29 never felt comfortable, always had pain when I bit down on it, and after multiple adjustments to the bridge we just gave up. Then, a year ago, the infection in #29 shows up and had it root canaled. I have been in so much pain since. First of all, that tooth still hurts when I bite on it, and even when I don't it almost feels like a festering thorn in my gums all the time. I also have developed what was diagnosed and treated as TMJD (pain in my facial muscles, and a horrible pain that goes from my left shoulder, up through my neck, behind my ear, and into the upper rear of my head (kind of feels like someone is squeezing or stabbing my head, and it feels this way ALL THE TIME!!). Ironically this is on the side of my head opposite to my root canal. I've had bite splints, PT, meds, etc., but has not responded to treatment. This muscle/nerve pain began actually 2 weeks following the root canal, when I had an outbreak of canker sores and ended up with a fever and swollen lymph nodes that actually stayed swollen for several months. I think the lymph nodes are fine now, but the pain in my head continues. So this is where I'm at.....my TMJ doctor suggests it my actually be RSD in my teeth, and he's questioning also whether the tooth is savable (looks good on x ray but may be cracked, etc.). It also could just be that the bridge doesn't fit well causing the pain, but at this point we've shaved down actually probably too much of the bridge and there is no further adjustment that can be done. My dentist was recommending braces to treat the TMJ due to my overbite and overjet and the TMJ doctor is adamantly against it. What I'm thinking is......I am so exhausted by this whole thing. Do I just get the stupid tooth removed and move on? I would likely need to get partial dentures to fill these three missing teeth, but the one on the left has so much bone recession I'm not sure it can even support a denture without a bone and tissue graft. I would love to save my tooth (and my bridge), but I really think the pain in the tooth from the root canal is making my nervous system hyper-reactive and causing the facial, neck, head muscle pain. I wonder if taking out the tooth everything can just settle down and relax. My history of 2 failed root canals (and RSD after hardware placement) suggests to me that perhaps my body just doesn't respond well to foreign stuff in it. Thoughts? Convincing my dentist of this plan will also likely be a challenge; I don't think she really understands what RSD is and will still think braces and implants will be the way to go. I wish I were the kind of person that could do that with no problem, but with my RSD I would expect a major flare with all of that.