Merrida

I happened across this board because of my search for dental problem-related boards.

As my previous posts stated, I'm filled to the brim with this liquid behind the ears stuff, clogged, sinus issues, facial pain, I grind my teeth (enough to wake my husband up), I clench my jaw almost constantly, I pull my lips in together, it hurts sometimes to swallow, "stereo" makes me dizzy (the sensation of music moving "around" me), I lose my hearing for a few seconds in one ear, and then it returns as abruptly as it arrived, I don't have "ringing" per se (I don't think) but I'll get these high pitched sounds that seem to get higher then louder, one ear,...and then it slowly disappears to normal (not abrupt like the hearing loss one), I frequenlty slam my front teeth with the eating utensils because my mouth does not open very far (it also hurts to get XRays because I cannot open enough for them, I cannot open to bite a sandwhich -- but that may also be that I'm "guarding" because I cannot bite anyway, because the last 3 years resulted in the loss of all but 2 of my top teeth, the rest are either yanked or are UNFINISHED root canals, or broken temporaries - so maybe that part is psychological?), I get dizzy spells but not vertigo (I don't think),...

After my last nasal surgery (2nd surgery for 5 broken noses) - I felt him HIT something with a "chisel" which he swears he never did, but I was awake and had the 1st surgery to compare it to,... after that is when I got paralysis on the right side of my face, my right nostil would and still does, randomly start to drip or spew, my right eye hurts and sometimes feels dry, right cheek is puffy,...I complained and he passed it off as an ENT issue (despite its occuring RIGHT after and because of his surgery), -- and he passed the buck. Sent me to an audiologist who ONLY told me that my hearing was super sensitive and that I was sensitive to very high frequency pitched sounds (which I thought was good? to have "such good hearing?" but he said "nooooo, that is not good".... and that was that, he and the surgeon who worked on my nose, never again talked to me, and kept putting me off telling me it will go away in time,... never ordered a CT-Scan, MRI, or even XRay to confirm anything).... blah blah blah and all the other stuff.

I may have had my host of issues but in the last 3 years I started extensive dental work, and 7 root canals were done in the last 1-2 years, and that is when I swear all my problems started or at least got worse, especially this ear stuff, which is totally new.

When I swallow it sounds like my ear is popping (like when you drive up a mountain or get in a plain), or if I breathe in through my nose I can experience a "hollow" sound. We won't get into my neck/throat pain either.

Well my dentis(s) (I saw 6 in 12 months last year alone) said there is no way this is related to the dental work. I expressed my concern over what this dental work may be doing long doing or what contribution it's making, and my subjective awareness that all this stuff above my clavicle started getting worse and worse yet, after this dental work.

This is making me somewhere between sick, and angry,.... to read everyone's stories, to see the unwavering commonalities, the symptoms we all agree upon, and yet for me to repeatedly be told by dentists that there's no connection.

How do you research "the right" dentist?

The last 2 dentists I went to listed as their specialty TMJ and jaw surgery.

I think that because of my other health problems (Elaine may relate to this one too because I've been undergoing a number of different therapies and treatments and drugs for my back and related issues) -- but I think it scares them off, they don't want to deal with it, and swoosh, they put me off.

How on earth are we supposed to find a dentist, who is familiar with this, familiar with root canals and excessive dental work having implications, and who isn't going to break the bank and yet take me seriously. Why is this such a tall order?

Aargh.

Thanks all for listening and sharing. This board has been very enlightening.

[This message has been edited by Merrida (edited 01-14-2003).]