<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Hi Listmates,

I have checked the archives and found nothing regarding the above in
connection with CD.  I am, therefore, coming to you for some
information.  First, I'll give you a little background info.

My husband was biopsy diagnosed last September with CD after many years
of misdiagnosis.  He is 58 years old and I know that he has had
digestive problems for the past 18 years.  After the CD diagnosis, we
asked for a bone density scan and he has low bone mass in some areas of
his body.  He is now taking Citracal Plus D and Miacalcin to help
improve his bone density, plus he maintains a GF diet.

About 2-3 years ago, our dentist of many years retired and a new young
man took over his practice.  When we went in for our semi-annual
cleaning and check-up, he said that my husband had periodontal disease
and that he felt he needed some gum surgery and wanted to do it
himself.  (In fact, he told us that we both needed extensive deep
cleaning and basically gave us the idea that our previous dentist was
not doing his job.)  We were skeptical, to say the least, and shocked
since our previous dentist had never mentioned anything like this in all
of the years that we went to him every 6 months.  We decided to get a
second opinion and went to another dentist (where our daughter-in-law
worked in Iowa City).  He did some deep cleaning and felt that it would
do the trick, along with good home care.  He did encourage us to find
another dentist closer to home in Illinois.  We did some checking around
and got some referrals and found someone with whom we were comfortable.

He recommended that my husband go to a periodontist for a consultation.
We did, and he again did some additional cleaning and recommended that
he have some gum surgery and alternate quarterly visits to the dentist
and periodontist.  At the time, he was not feeling well most of the time
with gastro problems and just didn't feel able to go thru the additional
stress of gum surgery.  He has continued to go for quarterly visits and
is almost fanatical about his home care.  The periodontist also did some
bite adjustments where you sand down certain teeth to adjust the way the
teeth meet when you chew.  After three times of trying to get it so it
felt right, my husband just gave up -- it still feels weird to him.  He
thought maybe he just needed to get used to the different bite.

At our last visit to the dentist, he xrayed his teeth and found that
there is something wrong at the base of the teeth near where the bite
adjustment was done.  My husband also has sensitivity in the teeth in
that area.  The dentist couldn't tell exactly what was wrong (he said it
could be a dead nerve or bone loss which would require bone grafting)
and suggested that he again see the periodontist.  In the meantime, the
periodontist passed away and his son has taken over his practice.  We
are going to see him in a week to get his opinion on what the problem
might be and what should be done.


We would like to know if anyone out there has similar problems with
their gums/teeth.  Do you think it is related to CD?  Or could it be
related because the CD leads to poor calcium absorption which leads to
bone loss, etc?

My husband is thinking that if this is a problem because of the CD, is
it even worth it to consider doing the gum surgery because it may end up
that he will lose his teeth anyway?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions/recommendations that we need to
be aware of as far as things to watch out for when going to the dentist,
etc.?

I apologize for this being so long, but I wanted to give a clear picture
of what has transpired so far.

Thank you all so much for being there.  We don't know what we would have
done without you in the past seven months.  You have been an invaluable
resource.

Barbara in Illinois