NICO stands for “Neuralgia Inducing Cavitational Osteonecrosis”. This refers to chronic inflammation.
Cavitations happen primarily after the extraction of wisdom teeth, although it can occur in any edentulous (without teeth) area of your mouth. This may be caused by a poor diet high in sugar, wheat, and cow’s milk products as well as stress and a deficiency in vitamins and nutrients like vitamin D3, zinc, magnesium, and omega 3 fatty acids. Your body cannot build new tissue when it lacks these nutrients.
When the tissue of a NICO is removed, pathologists typically find metals, pesticides, and other environmental toxins, as well as fungi, viruses, and bacteria often present within it.
They are difficult to find because they are difficult to detect on an X-ray. A type of computed tomography (CT) called a Cone Beam Scan may be used to diagnose it, but doctors need specialized training to detect and diagnose it.
Symptoms can be unexplained pain in the area of the tooth extraction that sometimes moves to the next tooth. This is because the trigeminal nerve in the jaw has branches that extend widely in many different directions.
You may also experience chronic fatigue due to the constant activation of the stress axis due to the continuous production of cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline.
Other symptoms that may appear include intestinal inflammation, migraines, joint and skin problems, heart rhythm disturbances, and restlessness.
This is my story with NICO. Two years ago, I had the second wisdom tooth extracted, the tooth before the wisdom tooth. All of my wisdom teeth were extracted when I was 21 years old. It was a complicated surgery and I ended up having complications in the two lower molars.
The tooth that was extracted had previously had infections that I had treated with antibiotics, about 5 times.
A year after the extraction I began to have headaches, between 1-3 times a week that could last over 24 hours. It was very annoying but not very intense. To stop them, I took an anti-inflammatory. And sometimes I had neuralgic pain in the area of that tooth as well.
After a year of suffering these unexplained headaches (because I had never had them before) and the nerve pain, I began to wonder if there was something in the place where my tooth had been extracted, maybe an infection in the bone that remained undetected.
I did a Cone Beam Scan, which many dentists examined including some biological dentists. They all informed me that nothing could be seen, and that they did not understand where the pain was coming from.
However, I was certain that something was there. I contacted Dr. Nistwich (BioDental clinic in Germany). When he saw the CBCT, he told me that I had a cavitation in the area of pain, and I had another 4 in the extraction areas of wisdom teeth.
Tired of suffering these pains and not having a solution, I went to Germany a month later to have surgery to correct this situation.
Let me explain what happens when you visit a biological dentistry clinic. First, they will do a complete examination and repeat the CBCT. They will explain to you where they see the lesions and what the treatment and surgery will consist of.
The next day I came back because I still had mercury amalgam in my mouth, and they wanted to remove it before performing the surgery so that I would heal better. It was a fast procedure because it was very small.
The next day I started with the Vitamin C serum which lasted about 2 hours. They explained that a month before the procedure it is very important that you supplement with specific minerals and vitamins for bone growth. And, you must consume an anti-inflammatory and protein-rich diet to help with the healing too.
You will need a level of vitamin D between 70-100ng/ml, magnesium, calcium, manganese, B vitamins, vitamin K, and boron. There are specific supplements such as Bone restore from Life Extension that can help you prepare for that.
On the day of the surgery, they will give you vitamin C again while they operate. They will also administer anti-inflammatories and some cortisone to limit inflammation. They insist that it is very important that your pain is minimal so as not to activate the sympathetic nervous system, which could make healing more difficult. It is very important to keep stress to a minimum.
The surgery will last approximately 3 hours. They anesthetize the area so you do not notice pain when they enter the bone. However, you may experience discomfort as they remove the areas of fat necrosis.
I asked him to stop once because I did notice more pain. Once he finished the 3 cavitations on the right side, I asked him to continue and finish the two on the left because I thought I could hold out for another hour.
If the dentist offers sedation, you may want to accept it, especially if you are apprehensive. Once you are asleep, you won’t notice anything until you wake up. By then, all the work is done.
I would have chosen it without a doubt, but they did not have this option in this clinic.
During the surgery, they take a blood sample and create membranes of platelet growth factors that they place inside the bone before closing the gum. This helps promote the healing of the bone and gum. This is one reason to focus on a healthy diet and supplements prior to the surgery.
Once you finish, they give you a mask that distributes cold water through it, so that you can put it on during the hours following the surgery.
Supplements to promote a good recovery include Boswellia, omega 3, magnesium, and Arsenicum 300CH 3 granules every 3 hours sublingually (also take before starting surgery). In addition, I recommend taking amino acids and ensuring that you take good quality protein at a rate of 1g/kg per day. I added some heavy metal-free vegan protein shakes to my diet for this purpose.
The day after the surgery, I did another vitamin C serum. Then I waited the whole weekend before the last checkup I had on Monday, which was the day I was going home.
Unfortunately, one of the cavitations did not heal well. It did not become infected, but the same thing happened to me when I had my wisdom teeth extracted at 21. Somehow the membrane they had put used had been reabsorbed, and I was in a lot of pain for 10 days. The rest of the cavitations healed so well that I had practically no pain or inflammation.
My recommendation is that if you need surgery, and you are taking oral contraceptives, discontinue them at least one month before surgery. The pill delays bone healing and is one of the factors that most affect recovery.
The bone recovers in 4 months, so it’s best to discontinue oral contraceptives during this time if possible. In addition, maintain your diet without sugars, cow’s milk, and processed food. Maintain good protein intake and a diet rich in healthy fats. Avoid excess cereals.
We have a lot of data on how oral infections can alter the oral microbiota and the intestinal microbiota. If you always have gut inflammation and dysbiosis that is not improving, you might suspect cavitations. Get them treated. It is an investment you won’t regret.
For me, it worked. My headaches are gone now, and some inflammation markers that were elevated for at least 1 year prior to surgery like CRP, ESR, and Lipopolysaccharides are now normal!