From an discussion group:
I recently found out that I have a jawbone cavitation that was a result of
having my wisdom teeth
cut out when I was 16. Turns out they call this NICO – Neuralgia Inducing
Cavitational
Osteonecrosis. A jawbone cavitation is simply a hollow space or
pocket in the bone that can be a source of silent infection. It is not
readily visible to the eye and often causes no local discomfort, though it
can be the hidden cause of facial pain syndromes,
trigeminal neuralgia
and cluster headaches.
The chief initiating factor is trauma to the jaw, often brought on by
standard dental treatment.
My cluster headaches started about three months after having my wisdom teeth
removed. Of course, no one thought to connect the two. I have classic
symptoms of clusters - they wake me up in the middle of the night, they are
on the righ side only, they happen sporadically about every 12-18 months and
last for about 4-6 weeks - each headache lasting about 40 minutes or so.
They are EXTREMELY painful and I have barely survived them.
I wanted to share this info with you guys in hopes that you might find
solutions to your headaches by looking into dental causes. There is also a
lot of evidence linking root
canals and amalgam
fillings to all types of headaches. I am scheduled for surgery in a
few weeks. I will let the group know how it goes. I'm pretty sure this has
been the cause of the clusters and feel sure they will abate after the site
is cleared up. - C