Update

We left off after I had both implants pulled around September 2021. At the time, I was in the process of clearing the infections and such. All that is sorted thankfully.

We gave it 4-6 months to heal, and then I had another X-ray. I was told it looked amazing, as my jaw/ bone looked like it was supposed to. The “hole” left behind by the implant had filled up with bone tissue and the oral surgeon was satisfied. ✅

Biocompatibility Testing

Biocompatibility Testing book(let) 🤣

At the time of the X-ray in February, I scheduled an appointment in March for the blood draw. This is not the same as allergy testing. This is more of IgG testing for sensitivities. That’s why it’s not covered by insurance because it’s probably considered experimental and woo-woo! 😂

I had my blood draw in mid-March and was supposed to get a call from the nurse 2 weeks later. I got worried when it was past 2 weeks and finally called this week at 4 weeks. Then I got a call stating I needed an appointment to discuss the results. That had me concerned that something was wrong.

This afternoon was the reveal. Would you believe that I was presented with a book of results? Not kidding. It’s a 91-page report. 🤦🏽‍♀️ I was expecting a few sheets of paper at the most.

What’s pertinent to me was on page 51. Essentially, it states that I have the least reactivity with some zirconia and some titanium. I was surprised about the titanium. Long List here. But then there are other titanium and zirconium that I’m likely to be highly reactive to, on page 52. Shorter list. So that’s the good news. And the implants I had called Cerec, are the same material as Zeramex which is on my “least reactivity” list. A little part of me would have loved to see Cerec on the list, however.

My question is, why wasn’t this offered to me right off the bat before I requested it? It should have been an option, then I can decide if I feel like my health is worth it or not. And that’s all the way back to my general dentist. but then again, they don’t believe in this technology.

The Plan

When I am ready, I will call them to schedule one tooth at a time. Each will be a 2-step process. I can feel the oral surgeon treating me like an egg at this point. It was cute.

They will go ahead and order the first implant and be ready for me.

The Surprise

Mordecai The Golden Doodle

Well, I met the most amazing therapy dog today. A golden doodle. His name is Mordecai, and he’s the oral surgeon’s therapy dog. He ran over to me like I was a long-lost friend. We even did the nose-to-nose.

I believe he was able to smell Whoopi on me, and immediately know that I am a friend of dogs. Incidentally, this same thing happened at the Myrtle Beach Safari. With wolves. They surrounded me, rubbed on me, loved on me, and I feel like it was also because they could smell Whoopi on me.

I digress!

Mordecai sat by me for petting and cuddles for a while and I told the oral surgeon he could go now because I had Mordecai and was all good. We had a good laugh and Mordecai made my day.

Mercury Reactivity

Heavy Metals Testing Results

When I got home however, I looked into my report more and realized heavy metal reactivity was at the beginning of the report. This was divided into least reactive, moderately reactive, and highly reactive.

Would you believe Mercury is on the list? And it was highly reactive no less. No wonder I couldn’t think straight with mercury in my brain. Not only does it cause neuro-degeneration, but my being highly reactive to it meant my brain was literally on fire.

Guess what else is on the list of highly reactive? If you guessed Aluminum, you guessed correctly. As well as Lead, Bismuth (in Pepto-Bismol), Zinc, Copper. That means I need to switch out my Copper tongue-scrapper for a stainless steel one ASAP. I have had this stainless steel tongue-scrapper sitting in my Amazon cart for months, and it’s only $9.99. However, I kept thinking, “Am I about to buy something else I don’t need, or is this necessary?” Now I know! 😢

In Conclusion

Biocompatibility Testing was definitely worth the $325 I paid for it. Worth every penny.

The good thing about the book of results is that it helps my future dental care as well, because any future restorations, crowns, and such can go by this result to make sure I only get the most biocompatible materials in my mouth. It wasn’t just implants and metals, it has results on etching materials, glass ionomers, composites, amalgams, liners, bases & varnishes. It lists 3 different groups of crowns & bridges, porcelain & ceramics, impression materials, temporary materials, cements, root canals, and denture materials (different components).

Also listed are porcelain alloys, orthodontic materials, sealants, and dental hygiene products.

Needless to say, I will be needing to read this whole book, and definitely, be referencing it a lot in the future.

Also, I will not be going back to a non-biologic dentist or oral surgeon, and if you have an autoimmune disease, I suggest you don’t either.

I am Dr. Folake Taylor, and I live with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis PPMS. After 15 years in internal medicine primary care, while battling disability/ PPMS for the last 7 of the 15, I found myself diving deeper into holistic health for answers. Now I’m turning my lemons to lemonade. I refuse to allow physical and cognitive disability stop me, from fulfilling my destiny of using my voice to benefit the world with my knowledge, which I did prior to my illness. Sharing what I have learned and am still learning about the body’s ability to heal itself, which is quite different from what I learned in medical school, is now my mission. And as I create an online self-paced course for MS recovery, I will take you along with me as the daily journey continues.

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Well, how about this for an update on my oral adventures? Would you believe that the second dental implant didn’t make it either? After the course of antibiotics, I felt good for about a week. Then I started to feel it again, the twinges in my left jaw, the funny taste. I went back to salt rinses. This time, I added LED light treatments that I normally use for teeth whitening. That staved off another serious infection till my follow up appointment with the oral surgeon.

What’s the verdict?

Then came the moment of truth. The tech looked at the implant, then she took my X-rays. I already knew deep inside, that it probably wasn’t salvageable, but you still wait to hear the verdict. After all, I knew it was a little loose, and figured that after 5 weeks, it should be stable.😂

So, the oral surgeon looked at the X-rays and bingo, just like I thought, it needed to come out.🤪

He explained that at the bottom of the implant, it should be all white, showing that it is fusing with my jaw bone. There was nothing like that. not even close. See X-ray above! (Ignore the white strip which is just my thyroid shield.)

After he numbed me and took the implant out, he said there was gum tissue growing and pushing it out, filling up the space. That sounded to me like a Murphy’s law kind of situation.

We’re going to let it heal for another 4 months, and try again. Sigh.

Things we’re going to do differently:

1. Do each implant separately, starting with the upper one, so that I have one side of my mouth to eat with. That way, I can optimize my nutrition around surgery, something I could not do when both implants were placed at the same time, on both sides of my mouth.
2. Get IV antibiotics with implantation.
3. Do a 2-step implantation, and bury under the gum.
4. I will do more extensive research on dental implants in autoimmunity and immune compromised states. So far, mainstream articles are saying there is no increased risk of implant rejection, such as here and here. This article speaks on titanium allergy in autoimmunity, and specifically cites multiple sclerosis MS. I already knew that, hence a non-metal implant option in the form of ceramic zirconium. This is the only article I have found that says it is risky, and essentially find an alternative.
5. I will inquire about testing for sensitivity to ceramic zirconium.
6. Depending on what I find, ceramic zirconium may be out, and maybe all dental implants.

It’s never a dull moment in MS land, whether it’s directly related issues, or indirectly. I couldn’t tell you exactly why the implant didn’t work. Is it something unique to me, MS, or the disease modifying therapy DMT? Or is it a combo of all these?

Listen to your body

All I know is this. If one way doesn’t work, we will try another.

My body said NO to this one. End of story.

How is insomnia related?

Can you guess what else happened? The first 2 nights after the implant removal, I suddenly could sleep through the night again, without weird vivid dreams, and wake up better rested. Then I realized I hadn’t slept well in 5 weeks. I’ve been sleeping better since.

What’s the connection between the implant and sleep? It wasn’t the pain waking me up, as that had been under control for weeks.

Body, I will continue to love you! 😂

I shudder to think of what my body would’ve done, if I had tried to implant metal in it. It’s basically rejected this style of zirconia non-metal implant. On to the next.

Yours in wellness,

Dr. Folake.

I am Dr. Folake Taylor, and I live with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis PPMS. After 15 years in internal medicine primary care, while battling disability/ PPMS for the last 7 of the 15, I found myself diving deeper into holistic health for answers. Now I’m turning my lemons to lemonade. I refuse to allow physical and cognitive disability stop me, from fulfilling my destiny of using my voice to benefit the world with my knowledge, which I did prior to my illness. Sharing what I have learned and am still learning about the body’s ability to heal itself, which is quite different from what I learned in medical school, is now my mission. And as I create an online self-paced course for MS recovery, I will take you along with me as the daily journey continues.

The post A Real Dental Debacle! appeared first on folaketaylormd.

In general, I’ve had quite the time with my mouth in recent years, since my Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis. My gums stayed inflamed. We could not tell if it was the MS, or my medications, some of which do dry out my mouth, immune suppression, or all of those reasons.

Finally, when the pandemic hit, I refused to go in for any 3 monthly visits at the dentist. I researched and found healthy organic tooth powders that did not contain fluoride or glycerin, as apparently, all the “healthy” ones I’d been using had glycerin, and this also has a negative impact. One other thing that I stopped doing, was drinking lemon water all day long. Instead, I started to limit it to first thing in the morning, as it was literally leaching my teeth and weakening my gums. I also started to use an LED light for my teeth, which incidentally helped my gums. Voila! Fixed. 

For the past few years, I’ve been on a quest to get the mercury fillings out of my mouth, which I did, leaving one toothless gap. Last December, I also took out my root canal, leaving another toothless gap, on the other side from the prior gap. 

I recently got non-metal dental implants put in. Zirconia Ceramic to be precise. Yay!!! Titanium is not necessarily biocompatible for those of us with autoimmune disease, and other chronic illnesses, like they try to convince us. But this deserves it’s own post later. 

Getting Dental Implants In The Setting of MS, Trigeminal Neuralgia/ Chronic Pain

Here is my advice to you, if you suffer from Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN), or chronic pain, which many of us with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) do, and plan on getting dental implants.

Pre-Procedure

See a Biologic oral surgeon and dentist, going forward. The experience is night and day. I like the Platelet Rich Plasma injection (spun down from my blood that is collected in the chair-pretty cool!). Experiencing ozone with the implants was a first, and now I want ozone in my life. It was a similar effect to an infrared sauna, as it made my entire body feel energized for at least 5 days, maybe 7.

Try not to get 2 implants on the same day, especially if they’re not on the same side of your mouth. It leaves you nowhere to chew with, as you ease back into real food, but still try to rest the side that is healing. I may cost more as 2 procedures however. Unsure of that bit. 😀

Mentally prepare ahead. It’s surgery. You will not be able to eat normal food for a while. Try to eat your favorite crunchy foods leading up to it. I don’t even think I had breakfast. I came home quite hungry and could only have a smoothie. Plus, I couldn’t eat my nuts for a while. Finally, I started to use my husband’s tiny dry grinder for coffee, to grind my nuts. And it will be 3-4 months before I get the crown. All I have now is a white stump!

Plan the implant type ahead. Research. Do NOT get a titanium or metal dental implant. If you have a chronic illness, there is a possibility that you will have a reaction to metal in your body. Consider Ceramic Zirconia implants.

Post-Procedure

Follow every instruction to the letter. Let the instruction sheet be your Bible for the next few days. 

Ensure that you do the salt rinse religiously, for as long as is recommended, or even longer. The side with TN also appears to be more prone to infection as well. Certainly, it appears to experience inflammation longer. 

Be prepared to have more pain/ sensitivity on the side in which you have TN.If you have chronic pain, you will likely have pain longer than the estimate they give you of 5 days. It’s all in how your brain processes. I got to where I was talking to the pain! “Though you feel like you’re going to kill me right now, you’re not. It’s just my brain playing tricks on me. I’m going to survive this and be OK.” I sounded to myself like I was doing EFT Tapping without the actual tapping. But my words followed the pattern of what you would say while tapping. Try to picture that. 🤣

I took way more Motrin than I like, as I do not like to take any Motrin at all. And I also started back on my Carbamazepine for TN, which I hadn’t taken recently, since my TN hadn’t been that bad. My mild TN symptoms prior to the implant was serving as a way to know what days I had more inflammation, actually, and I like to have that compass.

There is a possibility of complications due to your immune suppressed state, if you are on a disease modifying therapy. Infections, implant not integrating, implant coming loose, and needing to take it out are all possibilities. See that pretty Xray? That was mine after the implants. But the top one already had to come out at my 2 week check up. It was loose. I could have just pulled it out myself. 

In Conclusion

We will revisit that implant again in the future, but use a different one, though still zirconia. It might be a 2 step process, or the stump might be buried under my gum, is what the oral surgeon said. But for now, I have one side of my mouth back, to eat with as the other one heals. I feel a little free. And with the antibiotic I unfortunately had to take, I feel better. Plot twist. 

So, hopefully you have a better dental implant experience than I did, because of my share, seeing as I just waltzed in there like it was a dental cleaning and no biggie. It was an entire oral surgery y’all!!! 😜 🤣

Toodles.

Dr. Folake.

I am Dr. Folake Taylor. After 15 years in internal medicine primary care, while battling disability/ Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS) for the last 7 of the 15, and diving deeper into holistic health, I am turning my lemons to lemonade. Physical and cognitive disability will not stop me from fulfilling my destiny of blessing the world with my knowledge. I will bless the MS world with what I have learned and am still learning about the body’s ability to heal itself, which is quite different from what I learned in medical school. I will take you along with me as the daily journey continues, and as I create an online self-paced course for MS recovery.

The post Dental Implants, Trigeminal Neuralgia, and Chronic Pain appeared first on folaketaylormd.