Re: Two dental puzzles...


Steve Richfie1d wrote:
George,

T
In my net browsing, there are plenty of sites that relate other
problems, especially heart problems, to dental infection. Of course,
this could be as you said based on long discredited information.

But, tooth roots are very different in two important ways:
1. They provide a protected site for infection to prosper indefinitely.
2. Teeth are MUCH easier to remove, and removing them doesn't
significantly disable or disfigure the patient.

The only dental problem that has been linked to heart disease is
periodontal disease and the relationship between the two is tenuous at
best at the moment - more research has to be made since there are many
complicating factors. As to roots providing a protected site for
infection, they shouldn't if a RCT is successful. Your body has the
ability to deal with certain bacterial loads. There are billions of
bacteria not only inside your mouth, but inside your whole
gastrointestinal tract. Bacteria also frequently enter your bloodstream
through injuries as well as simple things like brushing. If you
couldn't deal with them, you would be dead!


Remember, we may be talking decades here. Wouldn't the tooth still erupt
over time, and wouldn't gums eventually recede from non-use? Also, the
opposing teeth are threatened by having nothing to bump up against.

How about something that pushes when biting while limiting force, e.g. a
thin elastomer sandwich bonded between a hard surface and the tooth? Of
course, a simple buildup that would have to be replaced every year or so
would also seem to be an option.

Buildup materials do not have the necessary strength to remain on a
compromised tooth indefinitely. I would guess you need SOMETHING (glass
ionomer, amalgam, composite, whatever, I mentioned GI because it's
probably the easiest to apply) to cover the root for protection issues
and then a partial overdenture that will prevent eruption (a simple
design would do and you won't have to wear it all the time). Those
materials will be removed when the tooth is ready to be restored.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Strange and persistent symptoms
    ... I have a long saga of adjacent teeth needing to be extracted ... but the tooth continued to ... It felt like a minor infection, ... In addition to the expense of 5 root canals, ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Re: Two dental puzzles...
    ... In my net browsing, there are plenty of sites that relate other problems, especially heart problems, to dental infection. ... Teeth are MUCH easier to remove, and removing them doesn't significantly disable or disfigure the patient. ... they explain that they are afraid of breaking off the remaining cusp and destroying the tooth. ... but it could maintain the root there for a long time. ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Re: Root Canal Nightmare
    ... If a tooth is "infected I ... >care of your treatment and have complete anesthesia for you. ... >to have antibiotics first for several days to reduce the infection which is ... >> drill again and I again experienced sharp pain. ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Re: Root Canal Gone Wrong
    ... Antibiotics for RCT teeth never help the tooth itself, ... He did both root canals at the same time. ... I was still pretty swollen and I expressed my fear that infection would go ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Re: Failed Apicoectomy
    ... >>operating microscope (becoming pretty standard for endodontists in the ... >>tooth will deteriorate. ... >>fracture, infection will spread from the salive down the fracture by ... endodontist can too and generally ascertain the source of the infection. ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
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