These issues are so tough to deal with. The people who are looking into these types of issues tend to be pretty far down the road and unable to get a good diagnosis. There is no question in my mind about the horror stories of unscrupulous dentists doing tens of thousands of dollars worth of unnecessary and unproductive filling removals on patients who look at it as their last hope. There is also no question in my mind that some of these patients also get their lives back after having been to the brink with endless illness and disability, ultimately resolved by resolving something as rare as the metal allergies. (Any idea how rare?)
Katie, I'm so glad that you seem to have a good diagnosis and have what seems to be viable alternatives. I'll be very interested to see where this leads you... PEEK cages? autograft? allograft? There are even PEEK ADR's that will be coming around soon.
Keep us posted.
Mark
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