IS it possible to still suffer from pain at the very spot where a painfully decayed tooth had been extracted weeks before? It may surprise most people to learn that the answer is yes. Sometimes, partially healed bones persist, and bacteria and toxins proliferate in the area, causing pain and discomfort that may even be felt in a different part of the jaw (referred pain).
When a tooth is being extracted, a normal dental procedure, the surrounding periodontal membrane is usually left intact. Theoretically, when a tooth is pulled, the body will eventually fill in the space in the bone where the tooth was. However, when the membrane is left behind, incomplete healing can occur, resulting in a hole or spongy area within the jawbone known as a cavitation.
Cavitations are a relatively new term in the dental dialogue. Most patients are unaware of cavitations, and even many dentists are not familiar with them yet.
A cavitation, which is rare, is a hole in the bone, usually where a tooth has been removed and the bone has not been filled in properly.
Experts speculate that this may be because the bone cells on either side sense the presence of the periodontal membrane and “think” that the tooth is still there.
A cavitation can form in any bone in the body, not just in the jawbones. There are also other reasons that cavitations form, some of which are localised traumas, poor circulation to the area, clotting disorders and the use of steroids.
Viewing an X-ray of an extracted tooth site, this membrane can form an image that appears to be a shadow of a tooth. Almost always, this is an indication of a cavitation. Most dentists can be aware of this phantom tooth image, but they generally do not recognise it as a site for potential problems.
Inside a cavitation, bacteria flourish and deviant cells multiply. Cavitations act as a breeding ground for bacteria and their toxins. Research has shown these bacterial waste products to be extremely potent. Cavitations can also cause blockages on the body’s energy meridians and exert far-reaching impact on the overall system. Investigations reveal that some cavitations even serve as reservoirs of significant amounts of mercury emitted by many silver fillings that the patient may have had at the time the tooth was extracted.
Some researchers believe that cavitations may be a source of low-level or high-level stress on the entire body.
Diagnosing cavitations is a challenging process because cavitations do not always appear readily on X-rays. Sometimes they appear only as subtle differences in the texture pattern of the bone. If your dentist is not specifically looking for the cavitations, then your X-ray will be read as looking “just fine”.
There are other methods for discovering cavitation sites. For example, they will sometimes cause pain when the area is lightly stroked or when pressure is applied.
The most common place to find cavitation is in the area where the wisdom teeth are removed, specifically the third molar area. Because so many of the body’s major organs are on the wisdom tooth meridian, cavitations in this area are particularly worrisome.
While the removal of teeth can cause cavitations, this does not necessarily mean that you should not have teeth removed. However, the dentist should clean out the periodontal ligament if it remains attached and any infection that is present, as part of the normal procedure. By doing this, the wound will have the greatest chance of healing normally, giving the patient no further difficulty.