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How much dental work have you had done?

vision blue

Senior Member
Messages
1,877
I'd be interested to hear from those who have had alot of dental work done that preceded their CFS. In general, also curious if people have had alot or a little dental work. (I'm not really talking about mercury and am familiar with the literature and posts on this as well). Just may be useful to hear stories- root canals, fillings, composites, etc. Maybe i'll post a poll, but not sure how many would be interested to answer it.
 

xebex

Senior Member
Messages
840
I once had a conversation with someone who insisted that my CFS was due to root canal issues he was shocked when I told him I’d never had a root canal! Had some very minor dental work which basically involved a tiny white filling. I can see no link to that work and my illness. That’s not to say there is no link with jaw infections and root canals of course. But Id say it was just another trigger for a genetically susceptible person.
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,679
Location
Alberta
I had a moderate amount of fillings, and probably a root canal or two many years before ME, none that I remember close to the time of developing ME. I don't believe it was a factor in developing ME. I had more extensive work (root canals redone, wisdom teeth removed, two molar extractions and one replacement) after developing ME, and none of that seemed to affect my symptoms.

Actually, I'm not 100% positive that I had my wisdom teeth out after or before ME. I'm pretty sure it wasn't within a few years either way.
 

Wolfcub

Senior Member
Messages
7,089
Location
SW UK
Most of my dental work was done quite a while before I developed ME/CFS in 2018.

I had an extraction in 2006 plus antibiotics (no ill effects at all or following) I had a crown about 2012...13? A white filling (though not root canal) probably around 2014, and another crown I believe in 2016 but I can't clearly remember when. It could have been 2015.

I do remember that for one of them the numbness post-anesthetic lasted a very long time it almost began to worry me. But otherwise I noticed no ill effects But I actually wonder if some of it could have irritated the trigeminal nerve, as I have issues with what appears to be more than one branch of that nerve now, which have peculiar manifestations, including a chronic "twinge" over my right eyebrow, some vestibular symptoms, and tensor tympani syndrome (the newest member of my ME/CFS orchestra!)
 
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Wolfcub

Senior Member
Messages
7,089
Location
SW UK
@Wolfcub That's interesting you mentioned about the numbing medication lasting along time. I had this experience with a post-ME/CFS filling as well. Wonder if that's related to drug sensitivity of the illness.
I don't know. At the time I got that I was fit and well generally and had no ME/CFS symptoms at all. But I guess a tendency could have been there inside unknown to me. I was hit with ME/CFS from Spring 2018 and I'd had no dental work of any note (except 6 monthly check ups and dental cleaning) since 2015.

But I do remember I got a few short lived and sudden dizzy spells in 2015 which stopped after 4 months. I just shook them off because I felt generally well.

Now in hindsight I wonder if something was happening with parts of the trigeminal nerve, which was affecting the inner ear..
 

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
@phillybadboy ...
I dont know about anybody else, but now I'm wondering if I'm going to miss something that could be incredibly helpful to me in dealing with difficult, emerging dental issues and how to deal with them, not only because of my ME, but also because of COVID .....
 

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
I think I'm just going to have to get over it and see the dentist soon!
I salute your courage :jaw-drop::jaw-drop: :woot::woot::woot::woot: :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: !!!!

I have none, and am resigned to the onging deterioration, even tho it depresses me unutterably. I live in the hopeful illusion that once everything has stabilized, at least COVID-wise, I'll gather up all my courage and stagger into the humiliation and pain that the series of endless dental appts will inevitably bring :nervous::nervous: :aghhh:.....

God speed to you !:rocket::rocket::rocket:!!!
 

vision blue

Senior Member
Messages
1,877
Just to clarify, I was not suggesting that this is a root (ha ha...) cause of CFS or even most people's CFS. But we all know we don't have identical triggers, and I was wondering even if ended up not being a trigger for most folks, exactly what their relation is/was with dental restorations.

I suspect there may also be differences depending on whether twitch mast cells are part of ones co-morbid condtions.
 

vision blue

Senior Member
Messages
1,877
Interesting suggestions on trigeminal nerve and dizziness (as well as on long lasting anesthesia. sometimes they add epineprhine or related to those things to speed up its effectiveness. I can see in some of us that too may create an issue, though not sure tied to long lasting (vs fast onset) of the anesthetic agent.
Reminds me theres also lots of poking going on relevent to nerves- for those with recurrent herpetic viruses that's worth thinking about on other grounds.
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,679
Location
Alberta
That's interesting you mentioned about the numbing medication lasting along time. I had this experience with a post-ME/CFS filling as well. Wonder if that's related to drug sensitivity of the illness.

I believe that ME messes with neural function in various ways, so I wouldn't be surprised if it altered reactions to various nerve-affecting drugs.