Heading Back to Oral Surgeon

Update: The pathology did not come back yet, but everything looks good.  The visit took all of 3 minutes.
Update 2: Pathology came back and all is well.  It was definitely an amalgam tattoo.  Nothing was noted other than this on the report.  I'm glad it is over with now and it is finally starting to heal really well too.

In about an hour I'll be heading back to the oral surgeon to make sure everything is OK.  Recap: I had an amalgam tattoo removed last Tuesday that had been in my mouth for almost 20 years.  It was about time to get it out and I do believe mercury leeches from these damn things.

Ever since the removal of the amalgam tattoo I have not been feeling quite right.  I don't want to immediately jump to the conclusion it is mercury, but it certainly makes me wonder.  The weird panicky feelings I was having last year started to come back yesterday which was just strange.  I had been doing really well and then I don't know what triggered my brain to start thinking obsessively.  Very peculiar.

I have been having these weird dull headaches.  The best I can describe it is almost like a burning.  Have you ever accidentally snorted some pool water and your sinuses hurt and burn for hours?  That is exactly what my headache felt like.  Perhaps I just picked up a mild sinus infection or something.  Quite weird though!

Hopefully they will have gotten the pathology back and they will let me know what they found in the tissues.  I will ask nicely for a copy of the report and then will post what it said.

I got the DMPS prescribed to me (after a little sweet talking) and it is being compounded by College Pharmacy.  I really like this pharmacy as I never had any problems with them and anytime I had questions for the pharmacists they were more than helpful.  This is the same place where I got my Methyl B12 injections.

The DPMS is more costly than DMSA.  It is about $2.75 per 50mg/capsule.  I guess it could be worse.  Years ago DMPS was running about $5 a capsule.  I'm going to be taking the DMPS 3 x a day for 3 days.  Then have 4 off days.  If everything goes well I may ask the doctor to up the amount of chelation days.

*Fingers crossed*

Amalgam Tattoo is Gone!

Amalgam Tattoo Removed

Well today I got the amalgam tattoo removed.  I was soo nervous!  My biggest concern was this nerve my previous dentist talked about, so I brought it up.  The oral surgeon said there was a nerve there (he had a name for it), but it is very large and isn't something you would accidentally hit.  He said if there was damage to the nerve that I'd lose feeling in my lower lip.  However he assured me it wasn't going to be an issue and if it was he would talk to me about it.  Phew ok that made me feel A LOT better.

He asked me if I wanted to do it now and I said sure why not!  Overall it was easy and not a big deal at all. I took some extra hydrocortisone (40mg) just to be sure but I probably could have gotten away with an extra 10 or 20mg.  

The area was numbed and then the oral surgeon went to town.  The nerve was not an issue at all.  In fact he said he did not even see it, so that was good.  He went all the way through "multiple tissue planes" to the bone and I could feel the pressure of him scrapping the bone!!  WOW!  Thankfully the numbing was good, so I didn't actually feel any pain.

Afterward he assured me it was highly likely this spot was just an amalgam tattoo.  He said it looked consistent with one as he was removing the tissues, but it is important to know dark spots in your gums can be cancerous too.  Because of that, the tissue was sent out for pathology and that report will come back in about a week.  I go back to see him next week just to make sure everything is good.

There are dissolving stitches on the incision.  It is very bloody and raw looking at the moment, so I have to be careful.  He said to take it easy brushing in that area, but I can eat and drink whatever I want.  My lip is still really numb, so I am taking it easy.  It's funny trying to put lipstick on with a numb lip. haha

He asked me before he got started if I wanted pain pills.  I was caught off guard by this question because I did not even think about the fact this might hurt afterward.  I was so nervous about the nerve and the procedure, my brain completely left out the part this wound might be extremely painful. haha  I told him I am not a fan of pain pills as they make me feel so out of it, but he gave me a prescription any way for vicodin.  I did not get it filled yet, so I am hoping it does not hurt too bad.  I can already feel some of the novacaine wearing off though and I do not have a good feeling about it.  hahah!

I was planning on taking a picture, but I don't know if I can pull my lip back that far without disturbing the area.  It is hard taking a picture of this area, so we'll see... 

If any of you have a dark spot on your gums, please have it looked at!! Especially if it came out of no where and not related to a tooth restoration or filling. I will let you know what the report says when I see them again next week. 

One thing to note. This doctor had a general idea what POTS was and he knew that I needed to take extra HC for the procedure.  I was impressed!

Update @ 7PM
The novacain wore off hours ago and it is sore only if I move my mouth around.  So I'm trying not to disturb it at all.  I don't plan on needing the pain pill because it is only very tender otherwise.  Thankfully it is not a bad throbbing pain I have had with other tooth aches and such.  Nonetheless this sore is going to be a pain in the ass, I am now realizing because I cannot eat normal foods.  haha

Update @ Midnight
Now it is hurting and I don't know.  Nothing has changed with it.  Eating earlier was rather interesting and I made myself some mashed potatoes.  It just more annoying than anything.  I want to be able to open my mouth up the whole way and I cannot.  Doing that pulls on the stitches and that doesn't feel very good. 

However I was able to snap this picture of the wound (seen at the top).  It's already looking WAY better than earlier today.

Amalgam Tattoo

I've had this amalgam tattoo since I was 8 or 9 years old. The dentist who removed my amalgam fillings said it was in a really bad place. He was concerned about a nerve that runs near that area which could paralyze my face. Ok not cool.

Well this week I am having an oral surgeon take a look at it to see if it is possible to have it removed. This thing is huge and I'd like to get the remaining amalgam out of my body to see if it makes any difference. I would have done it sooner, but the fact my dentist (whom I trust) said it was probably not possible, made me sort of forget about it. After reading a few studies, I am determined (within reason) to get this thing removed. It has been shown to increase your risk for mouth cancer and sinusitis. I have a stuffy nose almost all the time. In fact my nose drives me absolutely insane at times!

Here are a few studies that suggest amalgam tattoos are anything but "benign". In the very least they are making your immune system go crazy!

• Amalgam tattoo: a cause of sinusitis?
• An amalgam tattoo causing local and systemic disease?
• Amalgam pigmentation (amalgam tattoo) of the oral mucosa. A clinicopathologic study of 268 cases

Ugh the tooth next to the amalgam tattoo is also leaking some sort of metal. The dentist who did that filling failed hardcore and the metal post which is supposed to hold the tooth in place is sticking out of my tooth deep under the gums. That's a $1200 crown I can't afford at the moment. It's been like this for years.