Well I went into the dentist today finally for a checkup. It had been over a year as my oncologist wouldn't let me go during chemo and for 6 mos afterwards. Well I got 10 count em 10 cavaties!!! :'( :'( :'(
Between the Sjogrens diagnosis about 10 years ago and the chemo treatments I got last year, my teeth are taking a baaad beating. At this rate, I don't know how long they will last. :-[
The dental component of sjogrens is the hardest to cope with
for me financially . Its part of our medical condition yet our insurance wont cover it. So frustrating.
I dealt with cavities, abscesses, root canals, caps--lost count on how many I had--13 I think. I was broke from all the dental work and exhausted from all the time traveling to and from the dentist. I had 8 cavities filled in January of about 2002 and my dentist finally ticked me off and I never went back. He was no good and it took me too long to find that out.
Anyway, by the time I found a new dentist in November of the same year I had 17 cavities. I refused to have them filled. My new dentist just didn't want to rush into pulling my teeth.. That is the way the dentists are!!!! He would have me come in and check things out and eventually pulled one tooth here and there and watch and see what happened. Normally the pain would slowly resolve in that area. He also did pain assessments on each tooth. I strongly advise people to have this done. It opened a whole new meaning to me about the pain I was enduring with my teeth.
I had pain in every tooth and the lowest number was 4 and the highest number was 8 on the pain scale. He would tap each tooth with a fairly heavy metal instrument and the thump and vibration would really trigger a pain response. Seeing this documented on a computer printout gave validity to my complaints. He took me more serious after that and eventually He finished pulling the 19 teeth that I had left.
I always told my dentists that t here was something wrong with my teeth and they felt "sick". Nothing ever showed up on x-rays and when they were pulled the roots were all bad, as in dry and cracked, and they looked dead and abnormal. Just goes to show you that our teeth don't always have issues that show up on film. I also wondered if I had a certain amount of inflammation that decreased the circulation to the roots of the death resulting in the death of those teeth. Hard to tell with these Aid. Irish
If you could get some good grass-fed beef or chicken bones and make yourself some bone broth, it would help. Not fix anything fast but it will strengthen your teeth. Roast them first, then put them in a slow cooker w 1/2 cup vinegar and let it cook 24-48 hours. Strain and drink or cool and you can also cook your rice in it, make soup, etc.
We also drink raw milk here. I am amazing at the fast turn-around at the dentist for my kids. Right now, I am ok at the dentist. They told me I had a beautiful mouth, esp for dry mouth, but I am not as much of a milk drinker but I do the bone broth whenever I think of it. I add celery, carrots, onion, garlic etc and it is so tasty I can drink it like tea.
A farmer prob is a good place to start looking for animals if you don't have access. I mean last time we went w the kids we had about $5K of dental work between the three :( Nobody was flossing and no flouride. This time we went (6 months in between and not even 3 months of raw milk/broth) and Jayda's saliva dissolved one filling so it has be redone but otherwise we are cavity free.
Oh and we do a flouride rinse now. I know, it is poison but that is a lot of money we don't have. You can buy a Colgate flouride rinse at your pharmacist, it isn't expensive. I have sometimes done a rinse every time I brush my teeth, which is like 4 times a day sometimes and let it sit if you do flouride.
Poor thing!!! I cannot imagine what you are feeling. Hugs.