Ascorbic acid can help prevent pain after surgery
Vitamin C against post-operative pain
I recently came across the report of a woman[1] who had eight root-canalled teeth removed and two cavitations cleaned by a biological dentist. Before each of the three surgeries required, he administered 25 grams of vitamin C intravenously. As with all his patients receiving these infusions, she never needed either antibiotics nor painkillers post-surgery. When after the second and third surgical treatment, she did begin to feel some discomfort, she additionally took five grams of vitamin C by mouth which stopped all symptoms.
The above (retired) dentist is not unique in using high-dose ascorbic acid during dental clean-up surgery.
UK-based holistic dentists Munro-Hall for instance use intravenous vitamin C (as well as glutathione) at high doses during all surgical treatment as part of their normal protocol - thus enlarging even upon the IAOMT "Safe Mercury Amalgam Removal Technique [SMART]).[2]
A number of studies have shown that ascorbic acid (even in much lower doses than the 25 g stated above or when taken orally) can prevent pain, accelerate healing and avoid complications after surgery, including in dental work such as extractions. A few examples:
- Vitamin C and dental healing: testing and placebo effect.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23087948
A study from 1993 showing that vitamin C may be beneficial in speeding healing following tooth extraction and in reducing the likelihood of dry socket (a much-feared postoperative complication resulting inter alia in osteomyelitis and severe pain). - Effect of Intravenous High Dose Vitamin C on Postoperative Pain and Morphine Use after Laparoscopic Colectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27872555
Intravenous vitamin C infusion lowered postoperative pain during the first 24 h and reduced morphine consumption in the early postoperative period (the patients received only 50 mg per kg, i.e. a 60 kg [132 pounds] person received only 3 g). - Effect of intravenous vitamin C on postoperative pain in uvulopalatopharyngoplasty with tonsillectomy.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27219124
Similarly to the above, just 3 g of vitamin C administered intraoperatively were able to reduce postoperative pain. - Anaesthesia and pain therapy: perioperative management of patients with complex regional pain syndrome
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23235899
This study found much evidence for the ability of (unspecified) high doses of vitamin C to prevent pain syndrome in trauma patients.
The suggested "take-home message" for the reader undergoing dental surgery (such as amalgam removal[3], root canal[4] or cavitation[5] cleanup), especially if you don't have access to a biological dentist who offers high-dose intravenous vitamin C infusions, is to consider including oral vitamin C in your personal care protocol.
For other DIY uses of vitamin C, see Periodontal disease and vitamin C.
Note: There are also anecdotal reports of high-dose oral vitamin C helping against cavities (caries).
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Footnotes
1 www.beating-cancer-gently.com/newsletters/march-27th-2009/
2 https://iaomt.org/safe-removal-amalgam-fillings/ For background to both, see Links to proponents of mercury-free dentistry
3 See the entire Dental fillings section.
4 See the entire Root canal treatment section.
5 See Cavitations.