Can dental infections cause abdominal pain?
 

I've been having unexplained abdominal pain for a few months now. They've ruled out everything so far with CT, ultrasound, endoscopy, colonoscopy, blood work for H. Pylori. MY CBC is also normal. I've had a tooth that my dentist has told me for some time now (years) may need to be re-root canaled, along with a tooth right above it that I had a cap put on, but it's giving me pain. I'm wondering if it's possible all this abdominal pain can be related to a tooth infection? As anyone ever experienced this?

Hi Millerproof,

Because the mouth is so vascular, the bacteria from an infected tooth travels through the blood stream to other areas/organs of the body. This triggers a "chronic" inflammatory process which could result in a bacterial infection elsewhere in the body. Sometimes, the bacteria is difficult to categorize because it can be of multiple strains and end up in multiple places.

A routine CBC can be normal if additional inflammatory markers have not been tested. Also, all of your medical testing has been concentrated on your abdomen because that is where you are feeling the pain. But have you mentioned to any of your doctors about your teeth problems?

In ancient (and current) chinese medicine...... it is believed that all of our teeth coincide with other various areas of our body. Here is a link to the tooth and body chart which shows the correlation. Keep in mind that when you look at the chart, the teeth on the left side of the page are actually your right side.... the teeth on the right side of the page are actually your left side. For ex: the teeth on your upper right starts with tooth #1 and goes over to #16 on the upper left. Then comes down to #17 on your lower left then over to #32 on your lower right. So #1 and #32 are above/below each other on the right side..... #16 and #17 are above and below each other on your left side.

http://www.toothandbodyconnection.com/Tooth_Organ2.pdf

Keep in mind that abdominal pain can be associated with many different organs including your kidneys and renal collecting system.

Do you know which teeth are giving you a problem? Let me know if you need help decifering this chart :)

Bryanna









You can have a normal CBC

Also Millerprof.....

I meant to add to my reply to you that just yesterday I had a 28 yr old woman dental patient who had a cavity/infection in tooth #4 for several months. Her physical complaints were.... a toothache and unexlained pain in her abdomen.

If you look at that tooth and organ chart from the link I gave.... you will see that tooth #4 coincides with the large intestine. Coincidence?? Maybe... maybe not!

Bryanna



QUOTE=Millerprof;644403]I've been having unexplained abdominal pain for a few months now. They've ruled out everything so far with CT, ultrasound, endoscopy, colonoscopy, blood work for H. Pylori. MY CBC is also normal. I've had a tooth that my dentist has told me for some time now (years) may need to be re-root canaled, along with a tooth right above it that I had a cap put on, but it's giving me pain. I'm wondering if it's possible all this abdominal pain can be related to a tooth infection? As anyone ever experienced this?[/QUOTE]

Wow, Thank you Bryanna! I'm not sure I quite understand the chart, but the tooth in question is #30 on the right side (and also the tooth right above it on the top; I'm not sure what number it is--#3??). It looks like it lines up with the pancreas, which is actually my concern. I'm scheduling an endoscopic ultrasound to rule out any small tumors that couldn't be seen by CT scan.

What other tests could I get done to look for inflammatory markers other than a CBC?

I'm also wondering what your thoughts are on root canals. I've heard they are really bad for your health. But the only other alternative would be losing the tooth!

Thanks for your help!!

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Hi Millerprof,

I think you do understand the chart pretty well actually!
Tooth #30 lines up with the large intestine and #3 with the stomach and precreas...... they both line up with other areas of the body as well.

If your concerned about your pancreas... here is a good link about testing for that...
http://www.labtestsonline.org/unders...c_insuf-2.html

ALSO......
http://www.pharmaceutical-int.com/ar...o-biotech.html

I'm in the dental field as a chairside assistant for 30+ years (FYI in case you hadn't read that here already) and my opinion on root canal therapy is simply this...... it is not a healthy option for anyone for any reason because the only outcome of this procedure would be to allow a person to retain a diseased tooth. The alternative option of removing the tooth is the only viable means of removing the disease. Teeth have millions of microscopic canals that contain nerve material. These canals are unaccessible which means irrelevant of how well or how thorough a root canal procedure is, the nerves inside of them cannot be removed. Live nerve material anyplace in the body that has lost it's blood supply becomes necrotic.... necrotic tissue means gangrene. So when you think of that process going on inside your tooth, inside your head.... it sure doesn't sound very appealing.

Sorry to be so blunt... but endodontics is a multi million dollar business in which people are routinely misinformed. With that said, it is a legitimate treatment option for anyone who has been well informed of what they will be left with and what the consequences can be systemically. I truly believe that everyone has the right to make their own decision based on their own needs.

Please keep us posted on what's going on.... and know that we're here if you have more questions or just want to chat about it....

Bryanna



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Thats a great chart!

Thanks for your info! I went to an appointment today to have the tooth assessed and as I thought, it's infected with a bunch of bacteria harboring. They offered me an apioectomy which didn't sound like a great option (besides leaving the diseased tooth, there's no guarantee it will even work, and if they got in there and found the tooth to be cracked, which I think it is, the tooth would have to go anyway). I've decided to get the tooth pulled Friday and get on with healing. I also started some antibiotics so I'm hoping that will make me feel a tad better. I had a terrible experience last year with a dry socket, so if you have any good tips on how to prevent this again I'd appreciate it. Not looking forward to Friday, but looking forward to getting the yuck out of my mouth!

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Hi Millerprof,

Very glad to hear that you did not do the apico.... you are right, it would not have cured anything irrelevant of the tooth being cracked or not. The most reliable option to remove the infection is to have the tooth extracted.

About the dry socket..... At your appointment, I would remind your dentist before he removes the tooth that you had a dry socket once before and do not want to go through that again. It's just a way to leave him with that as his last thought before he removes the tooth so he takes special care to help prevent that from occuring again.

Some things you can do to help prevent a dry socket are....

.....If you smoke, don't. At least wait until the gum tissue heals closed completely. Smoking causes a decrease in oxygen which inhibits the blood clot from forming properly and disrupts the healing process. When the blood clot is disturbed, the bony socket becomes dry and infected.
.....Do not rinse your mouth for the first 24 hours. Then at 24 hours begin gently rinsing with warm salt water about 4 times a day, every day for the first 3 weeks. Each day slowly get a little more aggressive with the rinsing.
....Do not rinse with anything other than salt water. No mouthrinse or mouthwash. Salt water is the best!
....Do not drink alcohol until the gum tissue closes over completely. Alcohol is a drying agent and it will prevent the blood clot from doing it's job.
....Drink plenty of water from a cup, don't use a straw.
....Make sure you eat a soft, nutritious diet.
... If you take vitamins, do not take them 24-48 hours prior to the surgery. Begin taking them again the night of the surgery. The reason to hold off is because some supplements thin the blood which can cause more bleeding than necessary.

I always encourage my patients to plan ahead as much as possible so that they don't have to think about it at the time. One less stress to worry about!

Please let us know how you are doing... ~'.'~

Bryanna






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Thank you, Bryanna! Any advice for tooth brushing (wait for a day or not use toothpaste?) So not looking forward to this, but it needs to be done!

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Post op quesitons
 

Bryanna, One more question--Should I keep the guaze in until it stops bleeding entirely? It's been all day and there is still bleeding (not gushing, but bleeding).

Also, I'm curious about something. When I arrived for my appointment, the surgeon said they could pack the opening with a bone graft and collagen membrane so that if I decide to do an implant the bone might be stronger. They used cadaver bone. They also said it was less likely I'd get a dry socket. I'd like your thoughts on this. I didn't have time to research it before the appointment (I didn't know it was an option), so I was nervous but I did it anyway, as I thought they'd otherwise need to do the bone graft later and that would be one extra step before an implant if I decide on that. When I had a tooth removed last year by a different surgeon I wasn't offered the graft (and there's so much bone loss I would need one in order to do an implant). I'm wondering why they wouldn't have offered it last time? I've also heard with bone grafts they often take the bone from the person themselves (like hip bone, etc.) Is this true? Should I be worried about cadaver bone (not like there's anything I can do about it now)?
Thank you!

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