Katie,
The issue with antibiotics and dental work is the big blast of bacteria from our mouth that gets into the bloodstream when we have dental work. I'm 7 years out from my lumbar ADR and still do the prophylactic antibiotics when I have me teeth cleaned. I'm not sure I understand everything I think I know about this because everyone's gums bleed when they floss, but we don't take antibiotics prior to flossing. I used to work in sterile manufacturing (bacterilogical culture media) and was trained to understand that dealing with contamination is a numbers game. It may be the case that the amount of bacteria introduced by flossing is small compared to real dental work.
I believe that what Steve is eluding to with the discussion of psoriasis is that the sores caused by it may provide the entry point for a large amount of bacteria. I wonder if it's possible that there could be a secondary staph infection along with the psoriasis that would make it even worse?
I'd also like to discuss the distraction pain question, but can't write more now and perhaps we should start another thread for that?
I hope to hear that Steve's good recovery continues! (I wish I felt that good now.)
All the best,
Mark
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