Lyme Disease and Dental Health: The Journey Continues

Several years ago, I wrote a short book My Secrets to Regaining Health. It covered many of the simple techniques that I employed to get past the chronic Lyme disease that plagued me for eight years. It was written to help the many patients that were coming to me to specifically find out what I had done to achieve this.

Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness that is affecting greater numbers of people than ever before. It is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. It can also be transmitted through saliva, blood and other bodily fluids. Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. (Here is a good link on Lyme disease symptoms: https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/signs_symptoms/index.html)

If treated early, the cure is easy. However it is an insidious disease, so many times it may not be properly diagnosed until it is in its late stages. At this point, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system. It is most often diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks. Laboratory testing can be helpful but rarely accurate.

As a survivor of chronic Lyme disease, I know firsthand that residual symptoms of post Lyme are many and stealthy. Dentally, it can wreak havoc in your mouth creating many neurological, muscular and chronically painful oral problems that may involve more than just teeth.

Here are some of the dental complications with Lyme disease:
• Heavy plaque buildup
• Bleeding or infected gums
• Increased number of cavities, especially cavities occurring quickly and invasively
• Unusual sensitivity or achiness in teeth with no obvious cause
• Neurological problems in the mouth, such as a tingly tongue or numb areas on the cheek, lips or tongue
• Bone pain in the jawbone
• Joint pain in the TMJ
• Facial nerve palsy
• Masticatory muscle pain

For years after Lyme, I always had on and off phantom dental discomfort in certain teeth that no dentist could explain the reason for. Call it “sensitive teeth” or possible cracks in the teeth or maybe sinus problems.

Now that we have ozone in the office, I decided to give myself microbaric ozone treatments to see if it might help with the some of these lingering dental symptoms. To my surprise, after the 2nd treatment, I developed a bullseye rash on my palate, a sure sign that Lyme bacteria were indeed still harboring somewhere in my mouth. I have since done the treatment a few more times and bullseye rash only appeared once more.

Microbaric Ozone Therapy

And even though it has been almost 20 years since I have gotten out from under the chronic Lyme disease merry-go-round of never ending antibiotics and experimental medications, I know for sure that the Lyme parasite is still living quietly in my cells. Everyone has parasites of some kind living in them. Luckily my immune system is now strong enough to keep it under control.

If you like this post, you may also like my book: My Secrets to Regaining Health