rheumatoid arthritis linked to dental health

I was diagnosed with RA about 1998. The internet was new then but I did some searches and found one that seemed compelling. It was the story of Dr Weston Price. In the early 1900’s he took teeth that had undergone root canals and implanted them under the skin of rabbits. The rabbits developed RA like symptoms. He came up with a theory that you can get what he called a focal infection in the tooth that can affect other parts of the body. This was interesting to me because I had a root canal about 6 months to a year before I was diagnosed. I had no pain in my mouth but I asked my dentist about it. She had never heard about it but did an X-ray just to be sure. It turned out it was infected. I had the tooth removed and had a bridge for several years. I took Methotrexate starting then. After several years a second tooth went bad and had to be removed so I no longer had a bridge. In 2018 I decided to get a dental implant. Within 2 weeks of getting the post put in my hands flared up to be virtually unusable. I had the implant removed and within 2 weeks I was back to minimal symptoms. Since then I have been very careful about brushing, flossing, using a interstitial dental brush and finally using mouthwash every night. I still take the methotrexate and I have almost no symptoms now.

When I first mentioned this to my dentist the medical community did not buy into this theory but recent searches I have done show that there may be a connection. Based on my experience I have no doubts that there is.

I hope this story helps others.