When a relative died recently, most of us were curious to know what she died of. The Deceased's husband said that she was troubled by a toothache and went to have it extracted. The healing process wasn't working. She died a few months later. Mouth cancer was the word.
I thought about the discourse with Chris (not her real name) a couple of months ago. She had told us about the things that could go wrong after a simple root canal. When Doctor Candice proposed the root canal treatment for a troublesome tooth, I had visions of the putrid el-stinko pus streaming along tracts and congregating in a cyst inside the brain. I put my foot down. A root canal treatment was out of the question no matter how brilliant the dental surgeon was. I ended up with some sort of local treatment with antibiotics and antiseptic gel.
The infection did not go away, returning as and when it was in the mood. This time, an annoying blister appeared on my outer gums. Dr Candice proposed an implant to replace the troublesome tooth. The implant was not guaranteed to prevent future infection. Now why would I want to have a tooth screwed to my jawbone if it won't prevent any further infection at the same spot? The surgeon was clueless. Finally we had a laser treatment. She gave me three jabs to numb my gums and proceeded with the laser treatment to remove the blister. This seemed to work, for the time being.
Last week, I heard about a man who was suffering from gum aches which comes and goes. He went to his dental surgeon to have his gum looked at. They found a cyst in his mouth. The cyst was due to his tooth infection and was surgically removed.
I wondered if the relative aforesaid had had a long untreated tooth infection, which became cancerous.
