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

• Other symptoms include chills, fever, rash, fatigue, headache, muscle and joint ache, and swollen lymph nodes.³

¹ “Lyme Disease Have You Ticked? Ask Your Dentist!” Academy of General Dentistry. March 2007. http://www.knowyourteeth.com/infobites/abc/article/?iid=334&aid=1348&chapt=1 Accessed 2010.

² “Beware of Ticks and Lyme Disease.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiologic Health (CDRH). http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm049298.htm Accessed 2010.

³ “Lyme Disease Symptoms.” Division of Vector-borne Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control.  www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/ld_humandisease_symptoms.htm Accessed 2010