Hey i am curious, do any of you get flared up from dentist visits, even if its just a cleaning? I have mild-moderate gum disease that has been relatively stable for about 12 years, not a lot of progression with regular care, but I feel awful after just routine perio maintenance and I don't know if its because it irritates my tricky neck, the position in the chair or if the bacteria it stirs up flare me up. she recommends i take things to a deeper level by doing 4 intense cleanings and brief antibiotics where they focus on one quadrant of mouth at at time at each appt every couple weeks. That sounds like a nightmare to me as it can take me a week or 2 to settle down from periocare once every 4 months, I can't imagine that constant flare up I would be in if I keep getting it every couple weeks for awhile,plus I have no idea how the antibiotics will effect me. I have done a lot of work on my gut the last 5 years with probiotics etc and I hate to just destroy all the bacteria even tho it gets the bad bacteria too, if there is a better way. Plus what if I have some underlying infection related to the autoimmune that has been undetected, I would think brief antibiotics could just stir that up if its not longer to finish the job (some cases of lymes can take 2 years of abx for example). I feel like we are in dark ages with knowledge and since every intervention i try can have painful consequences for me and I havent found the quite right medication to take regularly to faithfully alwAYS knock back the worse of flares I am a bit nervous, immoblized to do any new more invasive treatments. Just got done with dealing with root canal redo that took a year to figure out and get thru, not anxious to do regular dental stuff if another way. Dental hygenist said the dryness of my mouth doesnt seem severe compare to another sjogrens person she has so I want to play out keeping my teeth well cared for and keep them until/unless things radicaly get worse. But I can't (painwise, workwise) afford to be getting regular tx that flares me up of any kind. sort of a catch 22 I find myself in.
any experience in this dept. appreciated....
wendyoh....I just found your post about the dentist. I too dread the dentist for the same reason. At first I thought it was my imagination that I was getting flares after the dentist along with an extra weird symptom-burning lips. But, after 4 visits and the same thing happening every time, I now know it's for real. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out what to do about it. For me it seems to take about a month after the visit to clear up (the burning lip thing, that is). The other symptoms of the flare don't all take that long although it's probably hard to really tell. This last visit was for my lip biopsy so I suppose that was going to induce a flare no matter what. Absolutely no fun! I know some people have said it was no big deal, but for me it was. It's been 3 1/2 weeks and my lip is still numb. At least the swelling and pain only lasted the first 2 weeks. But, I'm still dealing with my bottom lip burning! It's getting a little better every day now but I still haven't really been able to find a good reason as to why it happens after I go to the dentist. It sure doesn't make me want to go more often like we're suppose to!
Seagulls
One small item that may or may not make a difference. This is something I make sure I do every time I go to the dentist,
I always lather Vaseline or some good lip balm on my lips starting in the morning of my dentist visit. I've even asked them to give me a cotton swab with vaseline on it so I could slather my lips. My lips get so "stretched" that this helps keep the irritation down. I know this sounds silly, but besides the dry mouth and dry lips cracking, the irritation of the dentist/hygenist this is no laughing matter as you know. Maybe this tip will help someone. Lucy
I hate going to the dentist for cleanings. My gums burn a lot when my mouth is dry. It doesn't matter how "gentle" they are I feel sick afterwards. I once had that rooting and scaling thing done (by a dental office that was just trying to make money-turned out I did NOT have periodontal disease) and I was sick for weeks afterwards. The burning stayed for weeks. I think because the tissue was so dry and irritated to begin with from the dry mouth. I know they can put some sort of numbing cream on your gums before they do that though just fyi.