My cavitation cleaning experience
For those who are interested in what the dental cavitation surgery is like, here is a recap of my recent experience.
I first sat down with the dental assistant (who had also had this done recently) and had a good chat with her about the surgery and the benefits she had received from having it done. Then the dentist came in and answered my questions and went through the procedure with me. He looked at the pan x-ray (from 2007) that I had brought with me and thought he saw suspicious places where my lower wisdom teeth had been. I only had 2 wisdom teeth come in (the lowers) and when they developed cavities, I opted to have them pulled rather than filled. At the time, the reasoning was that, since they were crooked, I would probably develop more fillings since they were difficult to clean and the cost of pulling them was not much more than getting fillings. I thought that I would just get rid of them and never have to think about them again – ha!!
They took a new pan x-ray, since he insisted on having one that wasn’t more than a year old before performing surgery. Then the dental assistant did the CAVITAT scan. She put pure aloe vera gel on the outside of my jaw and also inside my mouth along the jaw, then put a round device on the outside of the jaw and a pen-like device inside my mouth. These devices work together to create the scan of each individual tooth. She did each tooth along both sides of my lower jaw. She then printed out the results and the scan showed cavitations at each extraction site. The left side was a bigger cavitation than the right, which correlates with my symptoms being worse in my left ear.
The doctor came in to review the new pan x-ray and CAVITAT results, then used an Electro-Dermal Screening machine to check both extraction sites to get a third “opinion” as to whether there were cavitations there or not. I also had him use this machine to check where my upper wisdom teeth would have come in if I had any, just to be sure that there were no problems there. To do the screening, I held a copper rod in one hand and put my index finger of that hand on the gum area of the extraction site while the doctor put another pen-like pointer contact on certain meridian points on my other hand to complete the circuit and test the balance on that meridian. Both bottom wisdom tooth extraction sites were far out of balance. The upper wisdom tooth gum areas were in balance.
Next, the dental assistant gave me some lypo-spheric nano-technology vitamin C to drink. I hadn’t taken any vitamin C for the 24 hrs prior, but they said that this type of vitamin C is the equivalent of getting it from an IV, so I went ahead and drank it. The product they gave me can be found at www.livonlabs.com
So at this point it was time to get on with the surgery. He started numbing me up about 11:30am with a non-adrenaline anesthetic. I don’t remember the name of it, I think it started with a “P”. Unfortunately, the non-adrenaline anesthetic seems to be not as strong or long-lasting and I had to get another shot of anesthetic to be completely numb.
Next came the incision into the right gum and then the drill. You could tell when the drill went into the cavitation area. It’s like when you’re drilling a hole through wallboard and once you’re through the wallboard, the resistance is gone and the drill “sinks into” the empty space behind. The doctor said that once the holes are opened up, the contents that come out look like an oil slick. He did more drilling and then used a manual curette to scrape some of the bone, then did more drilling. Of course, the dental assistant was also suctioning and spraying water, as needed the entire time. Once he was satisfied that he had removed all the diseased bone and “gunk” (for lack of a better word), they put a latex covering over my finger and did the EDS machine again to see if the area was now back in balance. It was. He then sewed up the incision. He put 2 stitches in each site and used dissolving stitches. I know I was advised against dissolving stitches here, but since this dentist is 4 hrs away, it seemed to make sense in this case and he was perfectly comfortable with using them.
The same process was used on the left gum, but he took some samples of the necrotic bone and “gunk” for a biopsy and pathology report to look for cysts and irregularities. He said he’s trying to get more data to support the existence of cavitations, since many still don’t buy into this being a real issue. There was an extra charge for this and I could have declined it, but I’d like to know what the report says, so I let him do it.
He put in the last stitch around 1:30pm, so the whole surgery for the two sites took about 2 hrs. But he did take a short break after doing the left side, probably 10-15 minutes or so.
I did decide to make the drive back home after the surgery. Or, I should say, I rode the whole way home (4 hrs). For me, I’m very glad I did this, rather than stay in a hotel. I was still numbed up for at least an hour of the drive and then started taking ibuprofen after that. After about 3 ibuprofens, I switched to Tylenol and that seemed to work better for me for the pain. It was an easy ride back and I was as comfortable in the passenger seat as I would have been in my recliner at home. And once I was home, I could take care of myself much better than if I were in a hotel room.
The dental assistant did tell me to eat something that evening and, since I have had some hypoglycemic tendencies in the past, I did have a small blended smoothie later that night. I did have a big lunch before the appointment, but was still needing a little something that evening. I’ve learned to eat from a turkey baster in order to get food mostly past the tooth area. And after having that smoothie, I very carefully rinsed with some distilled water that had Lugol’s iodine drops mixed in. I also had a spray bottle that I mixed with saline solution and Lugol’s iodine drops and would liberally spritz my whole mouth area with this. [See the Dental Aftercare Program instructions for exactly what to do post cavitation, extraction or other dental surgery]
The doctor told me not to use the Waterpik I had purchased until Sunday, although I think if I had been more experienced with it, I could have used it sooner and just stayed away from the incision areas. But, as it was, the food I was eating the next day didn’t really have “particles” that could get stuck anywhere, expecially since I was feeding myself with the turkey baster. I stuck with smoothies (yogurt, juice and a banana) and pudding, all strained through a stainless strainer and HCl drops added. Any water I was drinking was distilled and I also stayed away from caffeine for a couple days, since it can constrict blood vessels. On the second day, I started blending a veggie soup and ate it with the turkey baster. The next day, I had some oatmeal that I swallowed down instead of chewing. The waterpik was really helpful with keeping the mouth cleaned out after these foods.
As for what I wasn’t expecting, I didn’t expect to have such a sore throat afterward. But, according to the after-care sheet the doctor’s office gave me, this is normal. I also didn’t expect my jaw muscles to be sooo tight that it was difficult to open my mouth. Again, this is normal and really not surprising, after having to hold your mouth wide open for at least an hour and a half.
The pain level was not very high, but my jaw has been extremely sore this whole time. Again, not surprising, considering you’ve basically had someone take a Dremel tool to your jaw and routed out a portion of it on either side. I do have some slight bruising on the left side, but not bad. If I had been able to, I would have scheduled an acupuncture treatment on Sat or Sun to help with the soreness and tightness of my jaw.
Other things that are listed on the after-care sheet that was given to me are:
Do not smoke for 24 hrs (not a problem for me).
Do not use a straw for 24 hrs.
Do not lie flat on your back. Keep your head elevated on 2-3 pillows while you rest or sleep
Do not spit for 24 hrs. This will cause more bleeding.
Bruising may develop over the side of the face and neck. This usually doesn’t appear until 3 or 4 days after surgery.
Trismus (muscle tightness) of the muscles may cause difficulty in opening the mouth. Do not worry about this. Opening and closing the jaw will help the trismus.
Moist heat should be applied to the surgical area 48 hrs after surgery (Not before 48 hrs). I did use moist heat 24 hrs after the surgery because I really wanted it and Hulda Clark recommends this immediately after the surgery.
There may be slight elevation of your temperature for 24 to 48 hrs after surgery. This is normal. If you temperature persists for over 48 hrs or is elevated over 101 degrees, call our office.
Drink as much fluid as you can, as dehydration can cause an increase in temperature.
If the corners of your mouth are stretched, they may dry and crack. Your lips should be kept moist with a cream or ointment. (I definitely experienced this)
Your other teeth may ache and be sensitive to hot and cold. This condition is normal and should improve without treatment in a short time. (My lower front teeth ached for a short time immediately after the anesthetic wore off, then it went away)
After surgery, gently rinse the area. DO NOT use a water device.
After 24 hrs, gently rinse with diluted mouthwash or a saline (salt water) solution after each meal. (I would avoid commercial mouthwash)
A slight earache or sore throat is normal post-operatively. If, after 3 or 4 days, this condition gets worse and is accompanied by a severe THROBBING at the extraction site, please call our office.
As for what it’s done for me, I have had constant severe inner ear problems for the past 6 yrs. Before that, my inner ear problems were sporadic and didn’t impact my life as much. I have had constant low-level dizziness, along with ringing and roaring in my ears. Almost immediately after the surgery, on the way home, I noticed that the roaring in my ears was much less. There is still a fair amount of noise that remains, but I’m hoping I’ll see even more improvement after the bone re-grows and fills in the holes. But I can hear much more clearly out of my left ear now than I could before the surgery. Time will tell what other benefits may come from it, but I’m very happy with what I’ve gotten out of it so far.
My last piece of advice to anyone who will be doing this is to take several days after the surgery to just rest. I’m writing this on Monday and I’m now feeling up to doing some normal activities. But I am still trying to be very careful about what I eat and keeping food away from the incision areas. And I’m using the waterpik and rinsing with the water/Lugol’s solution after eating anything. I’ll probably be doing this for another day or two, just to be on the safe side. After going through all this and paying for the surgery, I don’t want to take any chances that the sites will get infected and I would have to go through it all again!!
Well, that’s all I can think of.