Expert: Frederick R. Liewehr DDS, MS, FICD - 1/13/2006

Question
Hi Dr. Liewehr,

I have suffereed from groin pain for months and have been tested for almost everything imaginable without any diagnosis. For nearly as long, I've been troubled by a bad molar which, based on symptoms, I feel certain needs a root canal (which will take place next week). I'm curious to know if you think there's much liklihood that the two could be connected? (I'm thinking it could be swollen lymph glands although the ones in my neck haven't been much of a problem.) I read some literature which made it sound possible and I'm hopeful that is the case. Could it be a staph infection? By the way, I've never mentioned the "problem tooth" to any of the physicians I saw because I didn't consider in pertinent. Now, I'm hoping it is. What are the odds? Thank you for your thoughts.

Answer
Extremely unlikely, Brad. Lymph vessels drain the approximately 2% of fluid that does not recirculate to your heard through your veins. Without that circulation, you would develop what we call edema, where the affected area would gather more and more fluid and swell up. In lymph systems are little filter areas, that contain specialized blood cells that fight bacteria and other things that should not be in there. So, the nodes (or lymph glands, another word for them) become bigger (swell) and sometimes tender when more of those blood cells come to do battle with the bacteria. These nodes are regional, however, and drain a specific area. You have nodes that drain the area where your tooth is, but they are in your head and neck, not in your groin. So, these are undoubtedly two separate issues. As for staph, the groin area is outside my expertise, but staph is not a common pathogen in endo infections. Good luck!

Dr. Liewehr