To the bacteria borrelia bugdorferi likes our teeth and its infection can spread to the root canals and dentine, causing great pain and even facial paralysis.
Lyme disease is a multi-organ and multi-systemic pathology whose clinical manifestations can also occur in the face and teeth. Facial nerve palsy is one of the most common, but the most common facial and dental pain, headache, pain in the jaw joint or pain while chewingare also symptoms found in people with this infectious disease.
The bacteria borrelia bugdorferi is a very aggressive spirochete that invades our organism.It is also found in the mouth and teeth, where it finds a place through the root canals, in the dentine and the thousands of small tubules that pass through it, or in the place left by extracted teeth.
On the other hand, experts have noted that Lyme disease takes advantage of other infections to grow and spread.. This means that, where there is any kind of infection, Lyme disease will worsen the pathology. And the mouth is a focus of infectious pathologies that we don't pay much attention to - only 44 per cent of the Spanish population regularly visit the dentist.
Plaque, cavities or inflammation of the gums are common untreated conditions that you should be especially careful about if you have Lyme disease. This is why it is important for the dentist to be familiar with the Lyme diagnosis in advance so that it can take into account the possible precipitating effects of its intervention..
Oral symptoms of Lyme disease
The oral symptoms of Lyme which are assimilated to Lyme disease comprise the headache and facial pain which often mimics dental pathologies and temporomandibular joint disorders.
In addition to a headache or discomfort when chewing, a person with Lyme disease may experience a number of other symptoms.mouth swelling, inflammation of the dental pulp, partial paralysis of the face - also called Bell's palsy - or inflammation of the salivary glands.
The symptom of the cranial nerve palsy, specifically of the facial nerve, is quite frequent in the Early Lyme and manifests itself within days or weeks of infection and is temporary.
The right treatment, if there is the right diagnosis
Whether it is important for the dentist to take into consideration our Lyme diagnosisalso it is necessary to know that a set of symptoms in the mouth can lead us to suspect Lyme disease. When a toothache is not related to caries or any other oral problem, we can suspect that there is an infectious pathology behind it. At Biosalud Day Hospital we are aware that knowledge about Lyme disease is scarce and what is not known, is not sought. By this we mean that if a dentist - or any other specialist - is not familiar with the disease, they will never contemplate the possibility of Lyme disease.
At Biosalud Day Hospital we deal with patients with Lyme in Spain and from all over the world and we have acquired a knowledge of the clinic, developed specific tests, such as the LymeCheck . We know that, as a multi-organ and multi-systemic disease, symptoms can be spread throughout the body, occur indefinitely or "hide" behind those of other diseases. This is why specific training and clinical practice is so important.
The oral symptoms of Lyme disease may go away after treatment, but this does not mean that we have to stop taking Lyme disease medication. monitoring or repairing the deterioration of the organism after treatment. Especially if the patient is exposed to an increased risk of tick bites.
Just as at Biosalud Day Hospital we look at health from a holistic and individual perspective, so too can dentistry; not only treating our teeth but relating our symptoms to our oral health and our lifestyle habits.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for a medical consultation.
