Dental work while on Reclast

Thank you, so very much for all of this helpful information !
I really appreciate your help !
My lower teeth are in better shape. I am missing three teeth where I had a permanent bridge that was working fine but the dentist found a cavity below the gum line and decided to remove the bridge and the adjacent tooth.
I do not know about the arch of my jaw or the integrity of the jaw bone but I imagine I will have to have upper and lower dentures. I do not know if the bone is healthy enough for implants. I have copied your questions to ask the oral surgeon and I will keep you posted and I will definitely read the articles you shared.
I finally feel as though I am not alone and with your support I think I can get through this in an intelligent fashion.
Thank you so much !

@hlp123 @loribmt I knew Lori would give you a lot of information, and her knowledge is invaluable. I did have the "flipper" she described for my front teeth that were extracted after I had failing root canals under a bridge and getting an abscess in the jawbone. I knew I was in trouble when my tongue pushed into a soft spot in the roof of my mouth that was in the hard palate part. Then I checked and sure enough, I had a blister above the tooth on the outside of the arch that I had missed, a sign of an abscess. Because it was a bridge anchored to each tooth under it, it held the tooth in place even though all the bone around the root was eaten by the infection; and otherwise, that tooth would have fallen out. I thought it was sinus problems and allergies causing the discomfort, and it happened kind of fast in between my 6-month checkups. It sounds like you have some good questions for your surgeon, and dental health is very important for your overall health.

Dear Lori and Jennifer,
I absolutely agree that the information and knowledge that you both have shared with me is invaluable. And almost as invaluable is knowing that you are out there willing to help and share your expertise.
I am so very grateful,
we will stay in touch !
I hope you are both doing well
Stay safe !

Dear Lori and Jennifer,
Thank you again, for all of your help and expertise !
I am so very grateful that you are willing to share all of this valuable information.
I feel so much better knowing that you are available to answer my questions and offer support!
I hope you are doing well !
Stay safe !

I’m happy to help you out as a sounding board. It’s a little selfish on my part too, because being retired after 30+ years from a job I loved as a dental assistant, I miss the rapport I had with patients.
Few people enjoy going to the dentist and part of my job was being able to calm patients down and help them understand what we were doing for them, explain the treatment a little more in-depth, etc. My boss was an outstanding individual and he was very patient with his clients. But you know the ‘white coat syndrome’. So no matter how attentive the dentist was, patients always ask the assistant to please explain.
I’m here anytime you need some clarification. One thing that will help to make sure I see your notices, is if you hit the reply button in the little black box under any comment I’ve made. That way the notice will come directly to me and I won’t miss it. That applies to anyone you wish to respond to. Just use the Reply button instead of the Comment button below.
Let me know how your extraction appointment goes. ☺️

Again !!
Thank you so much for being there for me. I
really appreciate that you are willing to guide me through this journey to gather information to take care of my health !
We will stay in touch !

I want to respond and report how my situation has progressed since our last connection.
I proceeded with the extraction of the root from #11 at the oral surgeon on October 13th. To fill you in on his procedure, He had me take one capsule of doxycycline one hour before the extraction. Then one capsule (100mg) bid for one week. He reported that the root came out clean, and there was a lot of bleeding and he felt that this was a sign that the health of the bone was good. The rest of his instructions were to rinse with salt water 4 to 6 times a day and to use Peridox mouth rinse every am and pm ( 1 tablespoon) for 60 seconds until gone. I have followed his instructions. I take 1000mg of Tylenol every 6 hours ( up to 3,000mg in 24 hours)routinely because of my severe arthritis and the extraction area, although still tender, the sensitivity is less each day. I have been experiencing pain around a level 3 at the rear, lower left jaw area. Wondering if this could be a referred pain. However this "pain" has not increased in intensity. I expected the oral surgeon to ask to see me at a follow up appointment to be sure the extraction site was healing properly. However, he said that he did not need to see me again unless I had increasing pain or needed him to extract my remaining four teeth. I was not able to get clear answers to the very helpful questions you offered for me to ask. I asked for a feasible plan going forward and he said that I would have to decide if I wanted dentures. I asked how soon would I be able to have my remaining 4 teeth removed? and he said I could have that done in 2 weeks. He said as far as he could tell, he thought I had a stable upper arch. I finally settled with asking him for the name of the most qualified dentist he knew to provide me with dentures. I will make an appointment with this dentist and see if he can assess how well the extraction area is healing and if it has filled in with new bone. I don't understand how using the measurement whether or not I have increasing pain can really answer that question adequately. I am grateful that the extraction appears to have gone well and that I am healing. I am not in any hurry to have any further procedures done at this point. I can cope with only four teeth for now.
I would really like to know if you think my next step, to have the Denture specialist, assess the health of the jaw bone, makes sense to you. Or what would you advise ? Thank you, so very much ! Through out this whole procedure, your calming, intelligent input has been so helpful.

I just sent a response to loribmt, the volunteer who has been guiding me along with you through out this root extraction. I wanted to fill her in on what has happened since my appointment with the oral surgeon. I hope that I sent the message correctly, because I don't see it posted. Thanks for your help.

@hlp123 I’m glad everything went well for you, and yes, your response to Lori and your follow up information came through just fine. It seems like you can take your time deciding what the next step will be. Thanks for letting both of us know that you got through everything well.

Hi, @hlp123! I was wondering how your extraction went. Pfhew, first one out of the way and it sounds like it went really well.

I’m on a road trip right now but want to answer your questions in more detail. “Mice-type” on the phone makes that tough. 😉 I’ll be back online tomorrow where I can type a lot easier.
In the meantime, I’m wondering if your jaw pain is from holding your mouth open during the extraction. I’ll send some info on how to avoid that next time. For now, you can try some warm and cold compresses in that jaw area. Warm for 20 minutes with a wash cloth or hot water bottle and switch to an ice pack for 20 (wrapped in a towel-not in the bare skin) and then back to warm for 20 min.
You can also try massaging the area on the outside. If it’s not too uncomfortable you can put your finger inside, back in the area of your mouth where the pain is and gently massage for a few minutes. Both of those will increase blood flow to the area.
I’ll be back tomorrow. 😊