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More Fallout from my Bike Wreck

There's a lot of talk now about how factors besides genes and current diet affect health and weight: the health of your mother when you were a fetus, your diet as a child, stress, and environment. Another is wear and tear.

A few years ago when I fell off my bike and broke a tooth and knocked two others out of place, my dentist said that the two knocked out of place would likely need a root canal someday because of the injury. It could be two weeks, it could be two years, he said. Now, nearly three years later, the canine that was injured is abscessed. 

Between being lethargic (doing nothing but watching Netflix when I got home), wearing my winter coat when everyone else was in shirtsleeves, and having an odd appetite (I've been living mostly on Quest bars this past month), I should have known I was sick. But I have a high threshold of pain. Finally, my face swelled up Friday morning and I made an appointment with my oral surgeon--the one who did my dental implant and gum graft. I didn't know what was wrong, but I saw him because the swelling was in the area of the implant and because I have a lot more confidence in dentists than in doctors. An x-ray showed bone loss around the root of the canine, meaning it's infected. 

Starting a course of antibiotics has perked me up so much that I've been moving large rose bushes today and feeling pretty good. Oddly, I'm in pain only at night, when my TMJ flares up. I'm wondering if TMJ is partly caused by swollen gums. It could be that low-carb diets help aches and pains in general because inflammation and water retention go down, meaning everything is less swollen and less sensitive. 

In any case, diet helps--the teeth where I had a slight cavity a few months ago are feeling better. But diet isn't everything.
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Comments

tess said…
our steadily-accrued injuries and infections throughout life make an impact, i'm convinced of it! :-( hope you feel "all better" soon!
April 12, 2015
Lori Miller said…
Thanks, Tess.
April 12, 2015
Lori Miller said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
April 12, 2015
Galina L. said…
I am watching your implant adventure closely because I now have three implants myself. It is very possible that having a foreign body inside living tissues will always keep a small compromised area which is prone to infections, and may be the inflammation started when you had too much stress. So far I would rather have implants than dentures anyway. May be it could be reasonable to have the state of implants checked after an evidence that your body had a period of compromised immunity (like having a flu).
April 12, 2015
Lori Miller said…
The tooth with the implant is fine--it's the tooth next to it that's infected. If the implant were infected and there was bone loss, I'd be in big trouble because the implant is embedded in the bone.

My oral surgeon said that implants and the teeth next to them should, as you say, be watched carefully for that reason.
April 12, 2015
Lowcarb team member said…
I think any accident ... bad fall ... broken limb etc. as we all get older can have a certain impact. We can all eat wisely, keep ourselves as fit as possible, which helps our bodies and general health. But alas we are still open to tooth infections, bacterial infections etc and a course of antibiotics is needed. Hope you feel a lot better soon and the coming week is a good one for you.

Take Care and .....

All the best Jan
April 12, 2015
Lori Miller said…
That's true--there's no such thing as perfect health and people suffered mightily before antibiotics came along.

I'm a bit tired from all my hard work yesterday, but my face is less swollen.
April 12, 2015
Unknown said…
If not already,please try moderate dose vitamin K-2 of the MK-7 isomer. moderate being 200-500 mcg. This gem of a nutrient affects many things... bone, tooth, and arterial or vein, which about covers your situation
April 13, 2015
Lori Miller said…
I agree, Robert--I've been taking it for years.
April 13, 2015
Val said…
As my friend commented to me a while back: "The bounce is GONE!!!"
Good luck Lori, I hope your abscess clears up uneventfully...
April 15, 2015
Lori Miller said…
There's definitely less pep in my step and glide in my stride.
April 15, 2015
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