I just found out that I have abscessed tooth on the right lower part of k nine tooth. Endodontist recommended that I treat it first by root canal procedure and see if we can save the tooth.
My current condition is that I’ve been hbv b chronic all my life, been on antiviral meds for 18 years and alt ast normal under 10, undetectable dna, fibroscan done last year detect no scarring, relatively healthy liver. i try to eat healthy and monitor my physical condition. I had never had any problems with my teeth other than having had braces at age 13. Now I’m 54 years old.
In recent days, I had a conversation with someone who is a dentist. When I told him my tooth problem (but did not mention hep b.) and I pointed the location of my tooth, he immediately said that I should check my liver. I was dumbfounded and said why. He said let me have a look at your eyes and said that my pupils are blurry, a sign of liver problem.
My question, my abscessed tooth, is it related to my liver problem or did the infection/toxicitiy build up due to taking antiviral for many years?
Would appreciate any comments of your experience.
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Hi @catcher.007
I would be extremely surprised if HBV contributed to your tooth problems. I’ve never seen anything in the literature about that. I suspect this just has to do with being in middle age (I’m 59, so I share that problem). Things just don’t seem to work as well as they used to!
I wish you the best. I was a dental assistant for 2 years when I was young and assisted with many root canals. They are routine for an endodontist, and it is great to save the tooth because it prevents resorption of the bone under it in the jaw.
John.
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Hi Catcher,
John has the right of it here.
While it is important to disclose existing medical conditions to your dentist, I would rely on your gastroenterologist (who appears to be doing a good job following you) for advice on any potential liver issues! Your infection is clearly very well controlled.
Best regards,
Yes, I am not sure if HBV contributed to my abscessed tooth but the dentist/friend whom I spoke to does not know of my hbv condition but immediately told me that I should check my liver after I told him which tooth. I was stunned at his comment. He is a dentist but is passionate about nutrition and naturopatic medicine. He studies that in his spare time. Anyway there is no literature written about hbv and tooth condition here but I am wondering if there could be a a relationship.
I plan to ask my dentist friend next time and might tell him about my hbv condition to get a better idea why he guessed right that I may have a liver problem just knowing the location of my abscessed tooth. It really is a mystery how he knew it.
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Hi @catcher.007,
Please send an update once you get more info from your dentist if you are comfortable doing so. I’m curious about his line of reasoning.
John.
Yes, @catcher.007, I agree with both @john.tavis and @availlant. I hope you get your tooth sorted out and you recover soon. Dental pain is one of the absolute worst things, so wishing you all the best.
Thomas
My friend/dentist learned about the effect of root canals on health. By knowing the position of the tooth, he knew that I had liver problem. I just watched a documentary movie called “root cause” which netflix pulled. I also watched youtube interviews about Dr. Hal Huggins discussing root canal and Dr. Weston Price. These two men are known in dental industry with their belief that root canal causes many diseases. My friend/dentist supports that view.
I don’t know if my hbv caused the infection on my tooth. I will be seeing a holistic dentist tomorrow to find a solution to my abscessed tooth.
I’d be extremely interested to know if any of the hbv patients here have abscessed tooth on the lower right side where the canine is.
Thanks for the information. I remain skeptical, but as long as your dentists are able to fix your tooth and remove the pain, then all is good.
I wish you the best.
Hi, I know, I’m little baffled about the possibility that our health of teeth has a major impact on our body health. For now, I am more focused on finding the solution for my abscessed tooth. I know I sound crazy but I would really be interested to know if anyone with hbv here has health problems after having a root canal done years ago. For instance, my mother had a dental work done on her right tooth and years later, she developed a breast lump on the right side. I’m debating to treat or extract the tooth although I’m learning towards extraction even though it’s a mild infection based on the 2 d x ray. I will double check with a holistic doctor in a few weeks and make that decision. I saw a holistic doctor the other day but did not work out because he was a thief. He told me the cost of extraction and implant would be over $9,000. So I will have to look for another holistic dentist.
Again, my main question is that if hbv contributed to my abscessed tooth.
My reasoning is out there, I know. But I once made a comment about vemlidy contributing to increase of cholesterol level last year and back then nobody commented that it could be true. Now I read a post the other day where it looks like it is accepted to think that vemlidy contributes to high cholesterol level. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Viread contributes to kidney function and bone loss
vemlidy contributes to high cholesterol
entecavor contributes to something with heart?
am I wrong?
I’m always open to learn new things.
Of course even with the side effects of antiviral meds, the pros outweigh the cons for chronic hbv so we take them.
Dear @catcher.007,
I’ve had a root canal and had absolutely no problem with it afterwards. I just went to a regular dentist and it was fine.
I don’t see any mechanism by which HBV could be linked to dental issues.
The side-effects you mention from viread and vemlidy are rare and do not usually impact a person in any way. Generally someone taking these drugs will only know if there are any alterations in cholesterol-, kidney- or bone-associated values only by blood tests, not symptoms. These can easily be managed and reversed by changing the drug that you’re on.
Cheers,
Thomas
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An abscess is an infection, usually bacterial, or a pocket of inflamed tissue with exudate that is not open to the outside of the body. HBV does not induce general immunosuppression or cause widespread alterations to the immune system that could reduce the ability to suppress an infection (other than against itself) or cause an inappropriate, localized pocket of inflammation. So I don’t see a likely mechanistic connection. That does not mean that there is no such connection—the body is remarkably complex and what we don’t know about it is much larger than what we do know. So in short, I’m not rejecting a possible connection, just saying that I don’t know what the connection might be and that other causes should be considered too. Abscesses leading to root canals are quite common (I personally assisted in performing about a dozen of them in 2 years part-time dental assistant work), so coincidence is a distinct possibility.
Note that your dentists’ belief that oral health can have major effects on the body is true. In London in the 1700s tooth problems from terrible diets was one of the top killers due to pain stopping folks from eating (causing malnutrition), and open sores leading to systemic fatal infections.
John.
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Hi, yes thank you for your comment. I know that link between hbv and abscessed tooth is far fetched. And it’s good to know that the side effects from the drugs are rare cases. Thank you.
Thank you for your comments. Yes, we don’t know definitive answers to my question for now. I will continue to be open minded with possible ways and in the meantime, will have to make a decision on my debate over extraction of my tooth very soon. Thank you!
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Yes, probably the most important thing right now is taking care of the immediate problem of the tooth. Good luck, @catcher.007 .
TT
Hello all,
I saw 3 regular endodontists and 1 holistic endodontist for my abscessed tooth. My last regular endodontist recommended that I do nothing about the tooth because the infection is mild and contained. He suggested that I monitor every year and see if it gets worse. He said that it could take like 15 years for it to go bad enough to require any treatment. I’ve decided to take that advice and continue to research if there is any relationship between hbv and canine tooth #27.
I could be wrong on my original conjecture that there might be a relationship between hbv and abscessed tooth. Thank you for all your comments.
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