My 78 year old husband has been given a 'working' diagnosis of MND with bulbar predominance. He can no longer speak and has difficulty swallowing. He has no problems with his limbs and all MRI and Nerve Conduction test confirm all nerves are working correctly. He had a peg inserted last December. The problem with his speech started in May 2021 immediately after having prolonged and difficult dental surgery. It has been suggested to us that the dental problems/trauma may have triggered MND. Has anybody else suggested that? If so why are no warnings given?
Because of the dental surgery and the loss of teeth which resulted in difficulty chewing food, we attributed the speech problems to the absence of three teeth and it was nearly a year before he saw first an ENT consultant and then a neurologist who after tests advised he did not have MND. A speech therapist performed a fluoroscopy shortly after and she did not accept that diagnosis and asked for an urgent appointment with a neurologist. That appointment took place nearly a year after we first noticed a speech problem. He thought MND on a balance of probabilities. My husband then saw a Neurologist at the NNH who did think he had MND but suggested the MRI tests and the Nerve Conduction tests be repeated. They were and again showed no problems. The latest diagnosis came in December when my husband saw the director of our local MND clinic.
My husband also had a very dramatic response to taking riluzole with a rash that covered most of his lower body. Botox injections so far have failed to suppress the problem with saliva. From my observations I would describe my husband's principal problem as being a paralysed tongue now with considerable atrophy so that he cannot easily move food to the back of his mouth, compounded with the saliva. Is this normal?
I'm sorry this is so long but I cannot get out of my mind the coincidence of the dental work and the onset of problems in the very area in which the dentist was working and using considerable force in extracting a broken tooth.
Because of the dental surgery and the loss of teeth which resulted in difficulty chewing food, we attributed the speech problems to the absence of three teeth and it was nearly a year before he saw first an ENT consultant and then a neurologist who after tests advised he did not have MND. A speech therapist performed a fluoroscopy shortly after and she did not accept that diagnosis and asked for an urgent appointment with a neurologist. That appointment took place nearly a year after we first noticed a speech problem. He thought MND on a balance of probabilities. My husband then saw a Neurologist at the NNH who did think he had MND but suggested the MRI tests and the Nerve Conduction tests be repeated. They were and again showed no problems. The latest diagnosis came in December when my husband saw the director of our local MND clinic.
My husband also had a very dramatic response to taking riluzole with a rash that covered most of his lower body. Botox injections so far have failed to suppress the problem with saliva. From my observations I would describe my husband's principal problem as being a paralysed tongue now with considerable atrophy so that he cannot easily move food to the back of his mouth, compounded with the saliva. Is this normal?
I'm sorry this is so long but I cannot get out of my mind the coincidence of the dental work and the onset of problems in the very area in which the dentist was working and using considerable force in extracting a broken tooth.
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