Before I dive into the topic of discussion I want to take a moment to thank all of my readers for your support, encouragement and questions. Two plus years of writing about my three plus years of treatment regarding the controversial topic of chronic Lyme disease is a long time for everyone involved. The process is slow moving and I have no shortage of things to write about. Stay tuned as this year unfolds.
What is integrative dental medicine?
Integrative dentists are traditionally trained dentists who are holistically oriented in their lifestyles and dentistry practice. Dentistry is often the missing link in integrative medicine strategies resolving the root causes of health issues.
Integrative medical dentistry blends traditional dentistry with a biological approach to dental health and healing with the belief that the mouth and all of its structures are intricately connected to the whole body. The teeth, jaw bones, gums and periodontal tissues, and the structural relationship of the jaw to the cranium can often be connected to, or the major root cause of many health issues. Dental problems often contribute to heavy metal toxicity and microbial infection and toxins, dys-regulation and neurological overload resulting in the body not being able to properly regulate (dys-autonomia), and structural dental stress issues. The dental conditions that lead to dys-autonomia are jaw bone infections, root canalled teeth and mercury fillings.
Do you believe all of what integrative medical dentistry is based upon? Once again, I find myself navigating another controversial topic that may or may not be linked to my on-going health journey, which is also controversial. In my last post I made light of the holistic doctor asking questions out loud to my body and using my responses to the muscle testing as the answers. Since then I have taken classes to get certified in reiki and now understand that you can indeed communicate with your cells and it is best to be positive at all times because too much negativity can halt forward progress when it comes to illness. It is very important that I view all of this as my health journey, and not my sucky health problems.
Allergy Elimination Testing Part II
A quick recap of the last questions, answers and final statement which I posed in my previous post:
Q: What are Gutta Percha and A bak kieferostitis?
A: Gutta percha is a material used for root canals and A bak kieferostitis is a bacteria related to jawbone cavitations in connection with wisdom teeth and root canals.
Statement: I've had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed and I've had three root canals.
[Gutta percha and A bak kieferostitis were in two of the vials that I stressed to during the allergy elimination testing I discussed last time].
You are probably wondering what a jawbone cavitation is. Well, it looks and sounds disgusting. I don't recommend doing any searches for it. A jawbone cavitation is an unhealed hole in the jawbone caused by an extracted tooth, a root canal or an injury to a tooth. They occur when bone is deprived of its blood supply and dies. A hole in the bone than develops and bacteria migrate into the hole.
After stressing to the Gutta Percha and the A bak kieferostitis I was told it would be a good idea to have a consult with the holistic dentistry office which is affiliated with the practice of the doctor I am getting treated by. The dentist did additional muscle testing on me, and then recommended getting my root canalled teeth extracted. The minute those words left the mouth of the dentist I got really sweaty and started to squirm in the chair. NO WAY MAN is the first thing that ran through my head. I was so busy with the inner monologue in my head I think I missed a few things that were being explained to me. What I did hear was that in addition to the tooth extractions, the dentist wants to treat me with ozone therapy where my wisdom teeth used to be as well as the spots my root canalled teeth currently occupy. Ozone therapy consists of the introduction of ozone into the body, in my case, into my gums. The proposed reason for using it is that the bacteria can't thrive or grow in a high oxygen environment and will die off.
One other thing of note to mention is that all three of my root canals were caused by trauma to my teeth. I love accidents. One of the teeth which is on the chopping block so to speak is a back molar but the other two, are directly to the right of my front teeth. As the dentist was hitting me with a sea of information and I was still trying to get over the initial surprise of the tooth extraction recommendation, I was also told that due to the jawbone cavitations he doesn't recommend dental implants and he would rebuild the front of my mouth with a bridge and veneers and then bleach the rest of my teeth to match the new work.
I was not nearly as enthusiastic as the dentist and his assistant were regarding my mouth, and I declined to make an appointment to get the ball rolling on the extractions, ozone injections, bridge work... etc. This initial dentist appointment was at the end of November and I am still doing research.
In the meantime I have since returned to the holistic practitioner who did the original allergy testing and elimination work on me, and the only thing I am still stressing to from the original results is A bak kieferostitis. Both the holistic practitioner and my doctor refer to it as the "elephant in the room" and are attempting to gently steer me in the direction of tooth extraction.
Research
There is not much out there in the universe regarding research between root canals, jawbone cavitations and Lyme disease, trust me, I have looked for it. By not much, I mean nothing. The information that was given to me by the holistic dentist which doesn't focus on Lyme disease specifically, but chronic illness, makes for great reading about areas of focal disturbance. They are localized areas of autonomic nervous system (ANS) disturbances caused by electrical pathological tissues whose chronic discharge overwhelms the sensory ANS (I discussed ANS last time). They often also contain deposits of toxic metals and chemicals and chronic infestations. The areas of focal disturbances range from scars, chronically infected organs (sinuses, tonsils, appendixes) as well as chronic jaw infections (root canal, dead teeth, jaw cavitations). Root canals and jaw bone infections create toxins. And toxins can create or enhance chronic illness.
While a high percentage of my mind wants to write this all off as gibberish and the convenience of having a holistic dentistry practice attached to the integrative medicine practice I am getting treated at, there are three things that keep running through my head.
- Some of what I stressed to in the muscle testing, matched my blood work results and was an accurate portrayal of the current environment in my body (Not everything I stressed to is testable through blood work, urinalysis, etc).
- In this post I wrote about a situation that occurred in December of 2013 which involved the most intense headaches I have ever experienced, and ended with the pain shifting from my head into one tooth. I commented on how it was weird that a root canalled tooth from years earlier felt like it had its own heartbeat. My doctor at the time told me it was a herx reaction and I had no reason not to believe him. This was long before I started taking this more holistic approach to my treatment.
- For every 4 people that tell me the dentist is a quack and I shouldn't pull my teeth, there is one person who sends me information about how root canals can cause chronic pain issues and/or cancer. It is usually someone who has a family member suffering from a chronic illness that can sight medical literature about the danger of root canals and keeping dead teeth in your mouth.
Back to the Lyme
I read a book called "Freedom from Lyme Disease", by Bryan Rosner. I am going to take one small part of what I have read and sum it up, because I think it pertains to my current situation and it is an approach to viewing Lyme disease that I have touched on throughout this blog.
The way each individual case of Lyme disease differs are to numerous to list. Lyme disease affects each person uniquely with different co-infections and co-conditions, and it is important to work with a doctor and for the patient to do their own research to correctly identify the distinct aspects of their unique case. Some Lyme sufferers symptoms are primarily caused by infections, meaning that before getting sick with Lyme disease their bodies were not functioning properly and were burdened by toxins, nutritional deficiencies, etc. There are other patients whose symptoms are primarily caused by non-infectious problems such as hormones, metabolic irregularities, allergies, etc. Many patients have a combination of the two categories I just mentioned. An important part of treatment is realizing the fact that the most pressing need needs to be addressed and that the treatments continually have to change as the needs of the patient change. This is where the analogy of "peeling off layers of an onion" comes from regarding treatment and recovery. The act of peeling off layers of an onion is similar to the act of recovering from Lyme disease. In the beginning of recovery, the treatment focuses on peeling the outer layers off of the onion. As the patient and treatment advance through the recovery process, they encounter and address deeper and deeper layers of the onion. The infections can arrange themselves in layers so treating infection "b" can only be achieved once infection "a" has been removed. The non-infectious health problems also nest themselves in the layers, and can come and go as infections are removed. Some layers can include both infections and non-infectious problems. When are all of the layers of the onion have been removed, the patient has achieved recovery.
Final Thoughts
I put a high value on the conversations and opinions of my family and friends who have engaged in many discussions with me about my experience and treatment, and are just as passionate about my health as I am. Like I mentioned above, I am getting mixed signals about the tooth situation. I am firm in my belief that I do not want to get my front teeth extracted, but I am on the fence about my back tooth which caused me an immense amount of pain over Christmas of 2013. I am now three plus years into this journey and have completely overhauled the way I live my life. I continue to make progress but I still have a ways to go. The tooth situation has been the source of a bit of anxiety for me lately. I can't help but think that this may be one of the layers of my onion which must be peeled off in order for me to make a full recovery.
To extract, or not to extract, that is the question.
If you are still thinking about it, perhaps this will help. If you are suffering that much pain with the back tooth, that is a signal something is wrong. That pain is not going to magically subside, it will get worse with time. Do the right thing now and you will not have to live in pain the rest of your life.
ReplyDelete