Tooth Pain Linked to Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is difficult to diagnose, but your dentist may be able to make the call accurately. People with Lyme disease report pain in their teeth, chewing muscles, and jaw joints, according to the Academy of General Dentistry.

About 70 percent of patients with the disease reported dental pain that moved from tooth to tooth.¹ However, it is important to remember that to make a diagnosis of Lyme disease, the following should all be considered:

• A history of possible tick bites, especially in areas of the country known to have Lyme disease²

• Symptoms, including sometimes, tooth pain where there is no tooth disease²

• Results of blood tests done at least 5 weeks after the tick bite to determine if antibodies to the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi are present in the patient^2.

¹ “Lyme Disease Have You Ticked? Ask Your Dentist!” Academy of General Dentistry. March 2007. http://dev.agd.org/public/oralhealth/Default.asp?IssID=334&Topic=T&ArtID=1348 Accessed 2008.

² “We Want You to Know About Lyme Disease: It's Difficult to Diagnose.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiologic Health (CDRH). http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/consumer/lymedisease.html Accessed 2008.