Saddle up – the summer of dental surgeries!
May 1, 2020 was my first call with Dr. Todd to discuss my options. Upon landing on the dental treatment plan, I had to get my head wrapped around all of the steps. Some of the latter steps were still vague as we needed to observe how my mouth and body reacted to each procedure.
The surgeries would include:
1. Removing the remaining amalgam fillings (3)
2. Removing 3 root canals (1 upper left, 1 upper right, 1 lower left)
3. Removing infection from the four wisdom teeth extraction/cavitation sites (my wisdom teeth were removed in 1994)
4. Potentially removing 1 implant (lower left) – which would be determined after the initial surgeries to see if the metal implant was bothering me.
Surgery #1: This surgery was all about removing the remaining amalgam fillings as well as two root canals/infection in the left side jaw (upper and lower), right side upper root canal/infection, and lower left cavitation area on my jawline where my wisdom tooth was.
This surgery lasted just over 6 hours and the removal of the amalgam (mercury) was serious business. I had experienced previous surgeries to remove amalgams but the SMART ‘biologic’ process was no joke. First, there was no general anesthesia. I was given diazepam the evening before and lorazepam throughout the process. That’s it. Let me tell ya’ – the recovery from NOT having anesthesia was life changing for me, in a positive way. I didn’t have to drift through that hazy fog that anesthesia causes me. Another difference was the only thing exposed in the room including on my body AND the dentist’s body was my tooth. I was buried under protective layers and Dr. Todd had a gas mask on…all to remove these fillings from my mouth. Yes, to remove the same material that was inserted IN my mouth years earlier. What a stark difference. I really wish I had memories of how I FELT when those were inserted in my younger years and I wish I could recall how I felt when the previous removals occurred. I’ve read enough to know my body suffered at the time of insertion and removal but I just don’t have memories of it. In fact, I struggle to remember most things during the high toxicity years of my life, which is most of it, sadly. Needless to say, both of us (Dr. Todd and myself) were exhausted after the six hours spent together. (Thank you, Dr. Todd – you are one amazing human!!)
Surgery #2: This surgery was to remove the infection on the lower right cavitation area on my jawline where my wisdom tooth was. SO MUCH INFECTION in my mouth! This day was much shorter since we focused on one area only.
These first two surgeries were about 4 weeks apart to give my mouth time to heal and my body time to adjust to removing the source of mercury. The MOMENT the mercury was removed in surgery #1 I felt different. I had been going to physical therapy for ~5 years for tailbone pain and it was immediately gone. It was crazy! I had been using a tailbone pillow for what seemed like years to be comfortable on a seat, driving a car, sitting at a desk, and all of a sudden the pain is gone and the need for pillow is gone too. Leg aches, gone. Tinnitus, gone. I had so many symptoms that I was living with as ‘normal’ that left my body. (Future posts will reveal there was still a long road ahead and undiscovered symptoms in my path).
Surgery #3: We had decided to wait and see how my body would do with the remaining metal implant in my lower jaw. It had only been seated in my mouth for a couple of years and given the cost AND what it would take to remove it, I was hoping my body would be fine leaving it intact. Not the case…it became VERY apparent that it needed to be removed. My jaw ached and ached so it was obvious it needed to come out! I went to the same dentist who originally placed the implant, signed the document that said “I was crazy for removing a perfectly good implant”, and went for it. It was a rough go as this did require light anesthesia. I had trouble staying awake and keeping my oxygen levels up during the procedure and my body had healed very well in the jaw around the mental implant so she had some tough work to get it removed. It came out, finally, and we were both exhausted. And, the ache and pain in my jaw was gone immediately upon the removal of the metal. Fascinating!
I opted to have Vitamin C administered IV’s directly after each appointment. This helps your body heal faster especially if it’s given right after the surgeries I had. So each time, I was so tired, would make it back to Helena from Bozeman (90 minute drive) in time to get hooked up to an IV bag of Vitamin C and sleep for an hour while the vitamins entered my blood. I had special mouth wash, arnica gel, ozone rinse and we watched closely as my mouth healed. Now the healing could finally begin.
I opted to have ‘falsies’ placed back in the open sites vs a new dental plan consisting of ceramic implants. After going through the process of removing, I was not excited about putting anything back inside. They work VERY well for now and perhaps down the road I might consider ceramic implants…but honestly, not in the near future, if ever. These ‘falsies’ fill the space so no encroachment occurs and I sleep with a nightguard which improved my bite and keeps everything in place.
I spent the summer recovering, healing, and researching the next steps. At this point I had removed the infections and the metal sources in my mouth, but metal lives in your cells so I had to figure out my path forward to remove the metal at the cellular level.
This proved to be a total rodeo….stay tuned!
