Memory Loss After Visiting Dentist

Despite the fact that few people actually enjoy going to the dentist, most people regard the practice as generally safe. Occasionally though, some patients experience unusual complications. Although extremely rare, memory loss can occur. After visiting the dentist, a 15 year old forgets his age and believes he is 13 again. In a more severe case, a man looses the ability to retain new memories completely. In the later case, a British soldier stationed in Germany wakes up from sedation pale and eyes glazed. After his condition does not improve by 5:00 pm, he is taken to the hospital where it is revealed that his memory is reset every 10 minutes. After three days, his memory improves slightly but he is still only able to retain memories for approximately 90 minutes. So what exactly happened?

For the patient's privacy, the real identity of the man known as "William" has been changed. Typically, events like these can occur from brain damage or traumatic events. With his wife claiming no traumatic incidents occurred and his brain scan showing no signs of any physical damage, an allergic reaction to the anesthesia is one possible cause. Other possibilities include bad anesthesia, a contamination occurring during the procedure or even a rare illness or genetic link coincidentally kicking in. It is even possible the dental visit itself was traumatic enough to cause this if "William" had an undiagnosed phobia.

Research on lab rats have revealed similar effects can occur where new memories are unable to be retained if a certain protein is blocked. In lab experiments, the rodents lost memories as well after about 90 minutes. In the future, scientists hope to find the trigger for this protein deficiency and how it can be reversed. In the meantime, "William" still believes it is 2005 and each day he has an appointment for the same root canal that set his life horribly awry. Talk about nightmares! Imagine thinking each day you needed a root canal!

Find more Robert Haskell technical, health-related and human interest articles at roberthaskell.blogspot.com and officesalesusa.com.

Sources:

http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/07/man-who-lost-his-memory-at-the-dentist.html

http://97x.com/15-year-old-forgets-how-old-he-is-after-wisdom-teeth-surgery/