I have seen one case where #10 was the trigger point for Trigeminal
Neuralgia (even after the tooth was extracted).

Steve

I'm sure it has lost some details and I appreciate your concerns
regarding drug seekers.  I assure you she's not looking for drugs, but
rather a resolution to the problem.  She really doesn't like to take
the percocet as it makes her itchy and sleepy (probably other side
effects she's not relayed to me) and takes probably a small dose daily
in the evening (don't know the dosage offhand).  I'll ask the specific
other medications that she takes and post here later today, but for
portions of the day its difficult for me to see her in the pain she's
in, and I know she's frustrated with the lack of a solution after
about 2 years of this.

The dentist clarified that they want to do "sculpting" of the gums in
hopes that this reduces the pain caused by having the temporary
implant in place.  He's also suggested that she diligently floss all
the way to the attaching rod in hopes that this reduces the
inflammation.  She has made it clear that she's not sure she wants to
do a sculpting as this has already been done once in the past, perhaps
before they initially put the temporary implants in.

As far as cutting nerves and removing gums I agree that these don't
seem like solutions to the problem and thats why I'm concerned as is
my girlfriend.  My understanding is that this is an expert in the
field although this _is_ western NC where there aren't as many experts
in any field here, not to diminish his ability, just to point out that
the community is probably much smaller than a larger town so less
resources to draw on.  Regardless I am concerned about the approach.
I think the sculpting may hold some validity since prior to the
implants when she had a "flapper"(?) piece in, the pain went away when
it wasn't in indicating that the pain is related to pressure on or
around the area, but I have no idea how to verify that the inflamation
is the source of the pain or if there's not some more serious trauma
inside thats the source of the inflammation and the pain.

I should also note that there have been two doctors/dentists involved
in this and that they are working together on this, one of which is a
bit more of an expert, so I apologize if I've gotten the story
slightly off as it is secondhand.

She pointed out that she's considering contacting a group in a larger
city as she doesn't feel like there's progress here and he is going to
post the problem to some online community he is a member of with
experts throughout the country(world?) so maybe things will move, but
ultimately after 2 years of serious daily pain she is not seeing the
light at the end of the tunnel and thats disturbing.

What I'm really requesting from anyone reading this is ideas of other
approaches that might be overlooked to resolving this (eliminating the
source rather than medicating), and other resources she could turn to
if she decides the current doctor can't resolve this?

Thanks again,
Lou