The Tooth Twooth

teeth three years ago (Photo credit: darwin.wins)

“Is there a relationship between Gluten Intolerance and dental issues?” is a questions I found myself wandering around asking anyone and everyone when my jaw went into fits of pain.

Last August (2011) I  had a simple crown put on a tooth that had just gotten a new filling that was very large.  Well being a redhead, I had trouble getting numb, and so I ended up with three injections of Novocaine in two different flavors…or types. Ever since then I had horrible pain in my teeth and jaw. When I say horrible pain, I’m not sure that covers it.  It felt like one of two, sometimes both things. Either someone was trying to rip my jaw off my face, or they were pulling my teeth out slowly with pliers moving from tooth to tooth without warning Oh and don’t forget a jaw joint that felt like I spent the last decade chewing a whole pack of hubba bubba..sore.  Not pleasant, and no one could help. Not my dentist who gave me a night guard that didn’t help, Not our holistic doctor who gave me weird h

erbs that tasted bad and did NOTHING to stop the pain, not then endodontist who thought two root canals MAY reduce the pain a little,  not my regular doctor… nothing. Then I got a cold, and oddly enough a combination of Advil and sudafed not only dulled the pain but cut it almost entirely.  HUH?  My oral surgeon took that hint and diagnosed me with Nuropathy and set me up with a plan to “untrain” the nerves from over reacting like a silent movie star.

Yeah, that was scarey because the pain was so intense…. and because often there is no resolution or cure. After about 8 months of taking Advil, Sudafed and an anti-depressant trying to retrain my nerves to let up I saw a change, a big one…finally.  I also during this time did a fair amount of research and found many articles (like a few I mention below) that link gluten intolerance and ignoring it to teeth, gums and jaw issues.

It was pretty hellish but I’m almost off of all the meds and my nerves have learned to relax. I promised my teeth/jaw no more trips to the Dentist that didn’t believe I was hard to get numb… and they agreed to stop sending a gazillion gladiators to battle on each and every little nerve ending.

For me it was un-training the nerves, but since I had been gluten cheating a lot, I think getting that on track helped a lot. And if you read stories online you can find a lot of peopel that SWEAR about a link.  So if you have gluten issues and tooth pain, consider looking into it… but if that doesn’t work don’t give up keep asking doctors and other medical people…keep reading. I’m making my way out of the woods leaving the nasty fighters behind!

A few resources I read:

http://www.living-gluten-free.com/tooth.html

http://www.deardoctor.com/inside-the-magazine/issue-10/gluten-dental-problems/

Related articles

• Dentist Sandy Springs: How Much Does a Root Canal Cost? (therightsmile.wordpress.com)
• When To See An Emergency Dentist (answers.com)
• Sensitive Teeth (alyssarassi.wordpress.com)
• Can a Gluten-Free Diet Help Stop GERD? (everydayhealth.com)
• How does one figure out if they’re gluten intolerant or if they have celiac? (beyondmeds.com)