Dental Issues ...

[Dcruz]

Hello

I have recently had to have a root canal treatment to a very angry tooth! Ended up in A&E and now had 3 visits and still tooth is too tender to get the last nerve out! My dentist is great and knows about my Lupus SLE but the treatment appears to have kicked off my lupus big time! Not been able to go to work for many days and been really sick with massive headache, dehydration and pain. Lupus consultant gone on a sabbatical and I have seen one Rheumy once when I was ok. Now GP won’t give me steroids till next blood test results come back ! Meanwhile had 3rd dental appt and still in pain! GP service is slow and also they seem reluctant to treat me as I seem to react badly to most drugs these days! Very frustrating and depressing. Not sure how to move forward. I am going to ask for a referral to A London specialist lupus clinic that has a nurse as a stop gap contact. Waiting for appts for 3/6 months is no longer an option! Rant over thanks for listening !! Any wise advice appreciated ! This is my first post

[Cann]

I have to be very careful what dental treatment I have and I have a very careful and understanding dentist.

I would have never risked having implants and even had to have my crowns removed due to the effect they were having on my health, but only one at a time and I couldn't have treatment more than 2 monthly.

I always had bad symptoms after each appointments.

I went unconscious with one anaesthetic and can only take one now.

I couldn't get it with NHS dentist, so had to go privately. I found no NHS dentist would listen to me or accept the problems I have, so I found one that did understand and treat me accordingly. My life was at stake and, therefore, I had to find the right dentist.

I hope you find the right one, too.

It seems our bodies don't like intervention much and it is important to respect that and tread carefully.

[Dcruz in reply to Cann]

Thank you luckily I have a great dentist , but I also realise now my body cannot take many interventions. Hopefully the dental referral to a specialist nurse will help me to approach any further appointments with caution and good advice. This episode has taught me a lot and set me back health wise but I have no choice now as the work has been started. GP been most unhelpful but hopefully that will change too. We must fight for our health even when we are unwell.

[Cann in reply to Dcruz]

Yes, we must, but I found that as much as others want to help us, they do not always have the knowledge.

My GP suggested tea tree oil for a nail problem, as I cannot take the drugs that are usually prescribed. What he didn't tell me was to dilute it in carrier oil - my skin became very inflamed and it was a herbalist that helped me to sort it out.

I have learnt that I need to take responsibility for my own health problems rather than trust anyone, but an experienced lupus nurse may be able to help, I found mine couldn't. It is the luck of the draw, I guess. I cannot risk trial and error any longer.

[_jenc_]

Hi there,

I'm so sorry you are going through this. Tooth pain is absolutely horrendous. I am due to have root canal soon too and I am very concerned about it. I recently had two anaesthetic injections at the dentist and she applied some paste into the tooth; by the evening time and for over a week and a half later I was profoundly weak and barely able to get myself from my bed to the bathroom. It was awful. Turned out the paste had antibiotic in it, so I suspect it might be due to that as some antibiotics don't agree with me at all anymore thanks to the lupus, however I can't completely rule out the anaesthetic.

I'm surprised your Rheumy clinic doesn't have a Rheumy nurse that you are able to contact in the interim if you need to for advice? I thought that was commonplace. I'm sorry that's not the case for you and if you can, I would definitely seek that referral to the London lupus clinic, as you clearly need and deserve better care. I really hope your tooth pain and other horrible lupus symptoms go away soon. Take good care x

[Dcruz in reply to _jenc_]

Thank you , hope your treatment goes better than mine 🙏🏻💕