Case Information
Case 1: Gagging
9/11/87 - I was unable to take X-rays in this patient's mouth because he gagged violently and involuntarily stuck his tongue out. Upon interviewing him, it was discovered that he also had pain in the right knee and pain in the upper teeth. Only Agaricus is listed in the symptoms of:
- Gagging (Stomach, Gagging p.499)
- Stomach, nausea, In The Mouth, P 508
- Pain in the upper teeth, P.433
- Pain in the right knee
Rx: Agaricus Muscarius, 30 C
Case 1-A: Abscessed Tooth
Tony C: 47 year old male CC: Swelling above the right central.
8/01/96 - The patient came into the office with a discolored right central. X-ray revealed a chronic abscess above the root. A root canal was performed and the canal was filled to the apex. The procedure was done without anesthetic.
8/03/96 - The patient complained of swelling above the root canal. There was pain to the touch above the root. A fistula had formed and was draining in the area.
Rx: Myristica 12X. Patient was told to take one dose three times a day for one week.
8/12/96 - Patient said the swelling was gone and the pain to touch was gone.
Case 2: Orthodontic Case
2/09/81 - This is an 11 year-old female who was whimpering and crying in a mild way in the dental chair and expressing a great deal of fear. She is a pretty blond and has curvature of the dorsal spine.
Rx: Pulsatilla 30C. She stopped crying instantly and I was able to give her the lidocaine injection and place fillings in six teeth with no problem. I also noted that she has a Class II, Division I closed bite and I advised the mother to take her to an orthodontist.
8/21/81 - Patient came in for a prophylaxis. Her mother asked me if she should see an orthodontist now because they had been unable to afford to go previously. I checked her bite and found the occlusion to be perfect. This would have been hard for me to believe if I hadn't noticed on her chart six months previously the Class II, Division I closed bite. In addition, her growth pattern had improved and the curvature of her spine was much better. I have continued to see this patient regularly and the only prescription required was pulsatilla 3X on 03/18/82 for fear prior to dental procedures.
Discussion: I can only conclude that Pulsatilla 30C was the child's similimum that did the correction. The philosophy working here is that it is hard to antidote the similimum or the most correct dose even with dental procedures.
Editor's note: This is a significant dental case because many homeopathic physicians view dental treatment with high speed hand pieces, potent bonding agents, etc., as being considered an antidote to homeopathic treatment. Obviously, as the T. C. case proves this is not true; however it is well to remember that volatile oils (eg. Eugenol) which are often used as a temporary filling can be antidotal.
Case 3: Osteoarthritis/TMJ
8/10/95 - A 64 year-old male comes to the office with osteoarthritis of the left hip.( wear and tear arthritis) which was diagnosed by an Orthopedic Specialist in February 1995. In 1979, he was on the Kelley program, and he came to our office with left hip pain for an MEA. At that time he was a Christian missionary for the French Colonies in the Carribean. After a few months with the MEA, his hip pain disappeared; however, in 1983 or 1984 he quit wearing the MEA and stopped the Kelley Nutritional program. Sometime later he developed hepatitis, even later Fever, which often results in pain in the bones and joints. In the late 19789's he retired fro the foreign missions field and after a state side administrative position, he left the missionary filed entirely, and went into consulting business with his son who does consultations for Orthodontic practices. I1990, due to a painful and weak left knee, he had a knee operation.
He is very successful, a very organized, competent effective person who handles people well. He has always been active athletically, particularly in tennis and golf. He is of light complexion, and has put on a little weight due to his inability to even walk short distances. Often his left leg has given out. He has frequent pain with his left hip. He feels he has had a bone problem of some kind for years. He has had years of stress in foreign mission field. Heavy anterior lingual calculus.
8/21/95 - 1M Calcarea Carbonica (Kent Lecture p 315, Kent Repertory p 985). Full nutritional program for a type 5, and MEA with dento-cranial treatments
9/15/95 - Pain is almost gone, strength returning.
11/11/95 Slight pain, lost strength on long walks on a consulting trip to France and Germany. Remedy Repeat Calcarea Carbonica 1M. Also Weleda remedy Parathryroidea D5 for activation of the parathyroid gland for normalization of calcium metabolism and assimilation.
7/07/96 - Progressing well. Pain in right hip and leg frequently.
10/11/96 - Returned for cranial and nutritional check up. Had extreme pain of right hip joint, and right leg with weakness. Flood in Aurora had flooded his basement, and he had carried large mounts of debris out of the basement up the stairs without pain; however on 9/96 trip to France for Orthodontic Office Consultations, he began to experience pain, and began to lose strength in right hip and leg. Cranial palpatory diagnosis revealed fluid movement adequate in left leg, but heavy restrictions in area of the right hip and right thigh. Treated patient dento-cranially, readjusted MEA, and gave Arnica 1M remedy and Weleda Parathyroidea D6.
Case 4: 12 year old female
March 3, 2003: The patient has been part of my practice for about nine months and has experienced inflammation of her gums due to abundant plaque build up. She is a very apprehensive patient, most likely due to her excessive sensitivity of her gums, even to gentle touch. She is also sensitive to sounds and will not allow me to place a saliva ejector in her mouth, so all cleanings are done very carefully so as to remove plaque but try and not touch the gingival tissues. Her gums also bleed very easily.
On March 1, she broke her right maxillary central incisor when she fell off her scooter. Her left maxillary central incisor has a crack mesial to distal 4 millimeters gingival to the incisal edge. The patient allowed me to take photos and a periapical but would not allow me to give an injection of local anesthetic so a restoration was not placed. The fracture was quite large and close to the pulp and the fragment was not located after the accident. She left with the tooth unrestored.
April 7, 2003: The patient returned for her four month recall and brought in the fragment. I told her that I could try and glue it back on without freezing.
May 27, 2003: The piece was bonded back on but the patient would not allow me to use a saliva ejector.
May 29, 2003: The piece came off and I informed the patient that a saliva ejector is required to keep moisture off the surface to allow for a better bond and reduce contamination. She reluctantly allowed it but at half the force.
October 1, 2003: The patient came into the office complaining that the front tooth started to hurt approximately two weeks ago after running in gym class. Initially it was on and off; it came on strong and suddenly and lasted a short period and disappeared quickly. She pointed to the maxillary right central and lateral and the lower right central. There is no apparent change in color. There is a little pain to biting and since the tooth broke she has had sensitivity to cold but it is short lived. The tooth is palpation negative, percussion positive and has slight mobility. A radiograph was taken but was inconclusive as to abscess formation. She took Belladonnna 6x.
Her general symptoms are; she prefers a warm room and sleeps on her right side. She has a fear of the dark, thunder, and pain. Her father died a year ago and the first anniversary of his death recently passed and the mother thinks her daughter feels it but does not express it. She drinks cold and does not like warm. She gets stomach aches. She does not like to be alone and prefers company. Prescribe __________30
October 7, 2003: The mother gave the remedy three times and reports that there has been no pain in the tooth. Eating on the tooth is better if it is soft but when the food is harder she feels pressure. She has not been complaining of pain. Her daughter has more energy (less tired) and is handling things better. She is more willing to do activities. Her intestinal issues (stomach aches) are occurring 50% less often.
October 16, 2003: She has four loose primary molars which are bothering so she is having trouble eating but no pain. The teeth have shifted so that they are angled 90 degrees to their normal position in a lingual direction. The front tooth is back to normal except for a little cold sensitivity. The stomach symptoms are 60% better. She repeated the remedy on October 12. Since repeating the patient has been more energetic, there has been a pick up in her stamina.
December 29, 2003: The remedy has not been repeated. The front tooth feels fine. She still gets stomach aches but more short lived (only lasts 10-15 minutes) and occurring 1-2 times per week, so change has been more in intensity and length than frequency. She has developed a dark brown skin eruption or discoloration on her neck which looks like dirt. Repeat remedy if symptoms worsen.
May 28, 2004: She has still not repeated the remedy and the front tooth feels fine. The stomach problems are occurring approximately once per month. The brown stain on the skin is the same. The mother placed aloe but there was no change. Repeat remedy ___30
ANALYSIS
The initial symptoms of the patient's case were not unusual since she had so much plaque build up. Although the sensitivity of her gums probably is what was preventing her from properly cleaning them. It was not until she had pain that I decided to prescribe a remedy on October 1, 2003. Her tooth symptoms where somewhat strong but not characteristic enough to prescribe on so I then investigated some of her general characteristics. Overall she is a fearful patient with a strong sensitivity to pain. At the age of 12, to be fearful of the dark makes it a guiding symptom. Another symptom that I found unusual was that even though she prefers a warm room, she prefers cold drinks and has an aversion to warm drinks.
The full repertory analysis produces a number of remedies that cover the case well. The symptom of pain that comes and goes quickly I did not place any emphasis because it came on after the specific activity of running which obviously aggravated the problem, so it is not an usual symptom. Her mother relates that she is a person who always sleeps on her right side and has a fear of thunderstorms.
The remedy that covers the general and dental picture best is Phosphorus. Sulphur and Pulsatilla are remedies that prefer cool rooms (since they are warm blooded remedies). Some of the other chilly remedies such as Arsenicum and Num vomica did not cover the fears.
Even though the presentation appeared to be an acute case, when the symptoms do not have an characteristic symptoms (assuming a thorough and complete acute history has been taken) we look at the general make up of the individual to ascertain more particulars. The generals act a differentiating symptoms and that is why having some background knowledge of the common polycrest and acute remedies help make prescribing more accurate. This allows you to remove certain remedy choices thereby increasing the chance of a correct prescription.