Fibromyalgia and Bad teeth? Is there a connection? (part one)
© Barb Briley
Those of you who have attended the club at http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/survivingfi... meetings Surviving Fibromyalgia know that Barb/I have a major dental problem. I would say had, however it seems that having all but 7 teeth extracted from my mouth was not the end of my problem.
What does dental problems have to do with Fibromyalgia? From others point of view not much. However it is very common among our number. We find ourselves battling chronic sinus infections and rotten teeth. The two can be connected through a hidden nutrition connection. Fibromyalgia, poor calcium absorption and bad teeth appear to go hand in hand. So lets start with my own story. Lets see if as a patient you have a story too.
Last June, July and August 2000, I became eligible to have my rotten, sore teeth pulled, they were damaged beyond belief. I knew they had been destroyed by years of antibiotics, steroids, and bad care.
I could never afford to go to a dentist regularly and if I did they would have discovered that I had 33 fillings by the time I was 16. Now... I either ate candy non-stop or something was wrong to begin with. I didn’t get that much candy so I figure something was wrong to begin with.
When the extractions began we pulled several which happened to be infected to begin with. One was obvious, it had a pussy whole and had been leaking off and on for years. Why didn’t I get care for it? Well as most Fibromyalgia patients know if you don’t have disability your state may not cover adult Dental. The State of Pennsylvania does NOT do so even though dental problems are responsible for millions of dollars of bills for other illnesses.
In addition to the headache of not having insurance, even if I did, finding a dentist that would take the PA access card in my area was nearly impossible! When I did locate one he was a simple man and when he took a look at my mouth he shuddered at the condition of my teeth. I had no less than 5 teeth completely under the gums.
Believe it or not they weren’t the ones infected. Two of them were infected on the top of my mouth. Both teeth were found to be grown up into my sinus, putting pressure on my sinus area nerves. They had been contributing to my sinus drainage and establishing a cycle of long-term sinus infection problems.
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