N I C O
stands for Neuralgia Inducing Cavitational Osteonecrosis. This is understood as a chronic inflammatory area in the jawbone. These osteolyses, also known as ischaemic osteonecroses in the jaw constitute a typical interference zone, thus belonging to the category of neuromodulative triggers.
These chronic softenings in the jawbone are a phenomenon that has unfortunately not been sufficiently recognised by broad areas of traditional medicine and dentistry so far. This is now changing. Clinics/therapists are now becoming increasingly aware of the effects of these osteonecroses of the jaw on health and take them seriously. This jaw inflammation was referred to by the American pathologist Professor Bouquot as Neuralgia Inducing Cavitational Necrosis (NICO), because it frequently causes non-specific facial pain.
NICO affects areas in the jaw, leading to fatty-degenerative bones due to insufficient supply in the form of a metabolic disorder. NICO usually occurs as fatty lumps, which can be easily removed from the medullary canal of the jawbone. These degenerated fat cells in NICO areas form inflammatory messengers (cytokines/chemokines), which also act as an interference zone on other organs and are associated there with inflammatory joint disorders, breast cancer, Hashimoto, multiple sclerosis and other tumours. NICO mainly arises after the extraction of teeth, in particular of wisdom teeth, and can therefore occur in any edentulous area. The cause for this is a shortage of vitamins and nutrients in the growth phase of adolescents or young adults arising from an unbalanced diet. Vitamin D3, zinc, magnesium and omega 3 fatty acids. The body frequently finds it difficult to cope with healing processes when faced with such a deficiency situation. It is not capable of building up new, healthy tissue, simply because the necessary nutrients are lacking. NICO is thus a symptom for an existing nutrient deficit.
healthy bone unhealthy bone
The misjudgement of NICO as a pathogenic change of the jawbone is certainly partly attributable to the difficulties associated with detecting it by X-ray. A normal X-ray image can only portray NICO to a limited extent. The introduction of digital volume tomography (DVT) has provided a method of depicting the structures in the area of a NICO with grater reliability.
A Bone Healing Protocol (BHP acc. to Dr. Nischwitz) has proved to be useful for the peri-operative support of bone regeneration, which we use prior to all surgical interventions for the support of the body’s own regeneration. It is of great importance to take the nutrients according to the protocol at least two weeks before the planned operation.
The therapy consists of the full surgical removal of these areas changed by inflammation and the subsequent disinfection with ozone. In our dental practice in Hamm, the insertion of an A-PRF® membrane (Platelet Rich Growth Factors) gained from autologous blood (Platelet Rich Growth Factors) in accordance with Professor Choukroun has proved to be beneficial. The freshly drawn venous blood of the patient is centrifuged for about eight minutes and thereupon activated. The membrane is ready for insertion after 10 minutes. PRF® technology is 100 percent of autologous origin and hence completely bio-compatible.
