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.

I will add that prior to my last root canal extraction I had unexplained stomach pain for several months (no test could figure it out). I was down to about 100 pounds. I finally got around to extracting that tooth (I had been told for at least a year that it needed re-treatment but it didn't hurt and I didn't want to lose a tooth so I just let it go). Well, I had that tooth extracted, and lo-and-behold my stomach pain went away and I became healthy again.

Ironically, I have the same stomach pain again since having this last root canal, and I've lost over 10 pounds and feel like crap. I thought the stomach pain may have been due to all the antiobiotics and ibuprophen I was taking to deal with the pain, but it has been a year and the pain persists. I was diagnosed last summer with gastritis and esophagitis. It hasn't gotten any better. I wonder if it would if I had this most recent root canal extracted.

Hi Millerprof,

I seem to remember you being on this forum awhile ago but I do not recall the exact reasons at that time.

It may help you to understand your ongoing dental problems if you know that root canal therapy cannot, does not and is not meant to cure an infected tooth. The procedure is done to allow a person to "retain" an unhealthy and infected tooth for an uncertain amount of time. The procedure is a flawed one for many reasons but the easiest to understand is because the anatomy of our teeth does not allow access to the many hundreds of tiny canals that contain dead infected nerve tissue after the root canal procedure is done. So a root canaled tooth does not get "reinfected" it remains infected from the onset. The infection may or may not show obvious chronic symptoms until the bacteria has spread beyond the tooth. But none the less, the tooth is undeniably infected the entire time it is present in the mouth.

With that said, when a person is diagnosed with an abscess from a root canaled tooth it does not mean that the infection is new or reborn, it means that the infectious bacteria that has been residing inside of those tiny canals has profusely migrated beyond the tooth into the jaw bone. Retaining infected teeth is hard on the lymphatic and immune system, the filtering and renal collecting systems, and all major organs of the body. So it is very possible and likely to experience physical symptoms of ill health and/or develop a chronic physical condition from the bacteria that has been traveling through the bodily systems for however long the infection has been present.

Although a diagnosis or correlation of physical ailments between the teeth and the body are often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed... in the dental and medical journals there are plenty of cases that have confirmed the correlation. Many of them refer to "unexpected" complications after a joint replacement in an arm, leg, hip, etc. or a surgery that involved other bony areas of the body. This is known as the focal theory and it simply means that the infectious bacteria that resides in the mouth and/or the (root canaled) teeth migrated through the blood stream to the "weaken" area of the body and settled there resulting in post op complications. Perhaps that is what occurred when you had your foot surgery?

Bryanna

Thanks for your response, Bryanna! It's interesting to consider that my complication after foot surgery may have been related to my root canals, but in hindsight it seems totally possible. I know I felt much healthier once the root canals were removed. But was then persuaded to try another root canal after the infection last year. I should have known after 2 failed root canals and previous health issues, but I stupidly decided to give it another try. Now to convince my dentist I want this tooth OUT! I'm tired of the pain, and tired of feeling ill. I guess it's time to consider partial dentures, as I will have to be removing a bridge and that will be too much space to leave open. I don't believe with my history I will have much luck with implants. With this in mind, I have some additional questions:

How soon after tooth extraction can a partial be made?
How stable are partial dentures?
Will they likely cut the bridge to extract the tooth and then re-do a crown on the back tooth, or do they just leave the crown as is after they cut the bridge apart?
Worst case scenario, if I also end up losing the very back molar in the future (which is currently capped as part of the bridge), can I even wear a partial with all three back teeth missing and nothing to anchor it to in the back?

Thanks for your reply!

Millerprof,

You are welcome!

The migration of infectious bacteria is easily possible and it is not an uncommon occurrence, just often undiagnosed as such. The medical field tends to catch on a bit sooner to the mouth and body connection compared to the dental profession.

The irony is that every dentist will tell their patients that the infectious bacteria from periodontal disease migrates beyond the mouth and into the blood stream and major organs. But then they don't share that same information when it comes to infected teeth. Doesn't make sense...

I will re post your questions and answer in bold type.

<<How soon after tooth extraction can a partial be made?>>
YOU MAY BE ABLE TO HAVE THE IMPRESSIONS MADE BEFORE THE TOOTH IS REMOVED. DEPENDS ON IF THERE IS ANY SWELLING THAT WOULD DISTORT THE IMPRESSION. YOUR DENTIST WILL KNOW.

<<How stable are partial dentures?>>
THE STABILITY DEPENDS ON SEVERAL THINGS LIKE .... THE PATIENTS ANATOMY... THE HEALTH OF THE ADJACENT TEETH .... HOW WELL THE PARTIAL IS MADE... ETC.

<<Will they likely cut the bridge to extract the tooth and then re-do a crown on the back tooth, or do they just leave the crown as is after they cut the bridge apart?>>

IDEALLY, THE BRIDGE WILL BE CUT WHERE THE LAST CROWN MEETS THE PONTIC WITH THE INTENTION OF RETAINING THE INTEGRITY OF THAT LAST CROWN. THAT WOULD LEAVE YOU WITH A SPACE FROM THE PONTIC AND A SPACE NEXT TO IT FROM THE EXTRACTED TOOTH.

<<Worst case scenario, if I also end up losing the very back molar in the future (which is currently capped as part of the bridge), can I even wear a partial with all three back teeth missing and nothing to anchor it to in the back?>>

YES THAT MAY BE POSSIBLE. AGAIN THE STABILITY DEPENDS ON THE THINGS THAT I HAVE MENTIONED ABOVE.

Bryanna

Thanks so much!