Deteriorating joint. Help

I have obstructive sleep apnea, I blame on my Lyme. I HAD a CPAP but long story short , insurance won't pay anymore. Sent to dentist today to discuss getting fit for an appliance that helps sleep apnea.
I also tell dentist I think I have TMJ and tell hm my symptoms. I feels my jaw and asks if I get headaches. Yes daily. He does a panaramic X-ray. He comes back and shows me X-ray telling me my right jaw bone is deteriorating and he doesn't know why but it's bad and I need surgery. He's sending my X-ray to a specialist in BOSTON to review.
Ok I'm in shock
Does Lyme disease cause joint deterioration?...
Does anyone else have this problem?

I think it causes bone deterioration, yes. It's the only thing that I know of why someone with the lifestyle I've always led as an adult would have Osteoporosis everywhere in my body. And in a lessor degree, osteopenia still in others.

Even my fingers and hands were bad enough it was caught on an xray, rather than bone density T scans.


I'd get other medical opinions before I'd have surgery which could set you up for a whole bunch more problems. Or do some research to get enough info to weigh the risk/benefit thing.

My nurse said bvt has stopped her jaw deterioration with ozone injections ....

i recommend microstings at first if you try this modality...

kimbo62 said...
I have obstructive sleep apnea, I blame on my Lyme. I HAD a CPAP but long story short , insurance won't pay anymore. Sent to dentist today to discuss getting fit for an appliance that helps sleep apnea.
I also tell dentist I think I have TMJ and tell hm my symptoms. I feels my jaw and asks if I get headaches. Yes daily. He does a panaramic X-ray. He comes back and shows me X-ray telling me my right jaw bone is deteriorating and he doesn't know why but it's bad and I need surgery. He's sending my X-ray to a specialist in BOSTON to review.
Ok I'm in shock
Does Lyme disease cause joint deterioration?...
Does anyone else have this problem?

Did he show you how bad it is? Is it already that bad that it needs surgery? Did you not lose any teeth with this bone loss? That's usually the first sign - teeth get loose.

What kind of surgery is this? I would get a second opinion for something like this.

I have some bone loss from the periodontitis I had - which is stable now for over 10 years...

Sounds like an infection in your jaw-caused by lyme or a cause for lyme. A long term infection like that will wear down your immune system. Either way its not good and should be addressed-best of luck

If you do have significant bone deterioration there is a less invasive option: stem cell injections. I'm having my deteriorated right thumb and wrist injected next Thursday. I had my knees injected last January and they were great....until the critters went after them during the summer. He'll do a "touch up" on my knees too.

My knees went very well; my wife had her shoulder injected for a partially torn bursa. Conventional surgery would have entailed 12 months recovery and pt, she was pain free in 3 weeks! Her cells were harvested from amniotic fluid, mine were harvested from adipose tissue (fat - from my right buttock, of which I have plenty LOL!) Mine was covered by insurance!

Stem cell therapy is not yet "FDA approved", therefore many insurers won't cover it. Even though it is labeled as "experimental" many clinics are advertising it. Usually cash only because they are using amniotic stem cells. I go to Duke UH. The extraction process relies on my own cells being used rather than an experimental material. The insurer will pay for a procedure, not the cells. I DO NOT recommend having an orthopod do spine surgery. Neurosurgeon only! There are new applications for stem cells being done daily. Even type one diabetes has been cured using them.

kimbo62, did you lose a tooth on that side of your jaw? Was there a place where a tooth used to be?

And most of all don't be scared. I just had a bone graft for a tooth that broke at the root. Because the tooth broke and it was not taken care of immediately, the tissue surrounding that tooth deteriorates. Consequently, when there are no teeth in the bone (usually due to extraction or in my case an injury) the bone has nothing to do so it deteriorates.

I'm in the process of getting a dental implant and they found that my jaw bone had diminished and it probably would not hold the implant. So, my first procedure was to do a bone graft and let that heal before they do the implant.

You get nice drugs for the surgery and it is achy, but not super painful, like I anticipated. The day after all I did was 2 Advil. But, the night of the surgery I did do a pain pill.

I'm not sure if it was a cadaver or a cow Girlie. You know what? I really did not want to know so I did not ask. However, I do know that being called butt mouth is not far off for me now.

Thank you so much everyone. Yes I saw the X-rays and it was bad. I had X-rays last year and there was no damage then. I'm on IV gamma globulin and I know some medicine can cause jaw deterioration but not sure if that does. I had all wisdom teeth removed when I was 18 yrs old I'm 54 now. I had a tooth removed that side approx 25 yrs ago. If related to tooth extraction I believe it would have happened years ago. I do have obstructive sleep apnea. So perhaps the lack of oxygen from that? I'm scheduled for MRI. And will get 2nd opinion on plan.

Thank you dacarte3