Chlorhexidine digluconate - do dentists consider nerve pain to be a known rare reaction to it?

[Annie364]

I think it's possible I might have got a nerve pain reaction to chlorhexidine digluconate, when my dentist used Corsodyl for preparing my LR7 tooth for a crown. I had nerve pain afterwards for a number of reasons I think, but possibly a sensitivity to chlorhexidine digluconate might be one of them. I didn't get any gum/skin reactions or typical allergy reactions.

I had a look online and found a medication which is a chip used clinically with chlorhexidine digluconate in it, that is placed between the tooth and gum. It states that nerve pain is a possible side effect, which makes me think that chlorhexidine digluconate can possibly cause nerve pain in a small number of people.

They mention toothache and neuralgia here, for the 2.5mg chlorhexidine digluconate 'periochip', which is a very high & concentrated dose but could indicate how people sensitive to it might react:

"The following side effects have been reported:
Very common side effects (may affect more than 1 in 10 people)
• toothache

Common side effects (may affect up to 1 in 10 people)
• swelling, pain and/or bleeding of the gums

Uncommon side effects (may affect fewer than 1 in 100 people)
• upper respiratory tract infection (e.g. throat infection)
• swelling of the lymph glands
• dizziness
• enlargement, shrinkage and itching of the gums
• mouth ulcers
• sensitivity of teeth
• neuralgia (pain from irritation of the nerve)
• flu like illness
• general tiredness
• fever"

https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/files/pil.2532.pdf

If I want to find out for sure if I'm getting neuralgia from chlorhexidine digluconate, in the future I can wait until all the pain is gone, buy some Corsodyl and use it as a test, and see if I get nerve pain again. I'm not 100% sure but I did seem to get nerve pain in response to Ultradex which is chlorine dioxide so somewhat related, if I used it for a few days in a row. It's a delayed reaction which made it harder to identify.

In the meantime, I'm going back for my permanent crown and expecting/hoping that my dentist will use only water to wash off the tooth before placing the permanent crown. I will check with him though that he won't use Corsodyl this time, and when he asks me why, I might say I'm thinking I could be getting nerve pain from it.

I was wondering, do dentists consider nerve pain to be a known rare reaction to chlorhexidine digluconate, or is it generally thought that people can only get the rare traditional allergy to it (local skin/gum reaction, local swelling, rash, itch, wheezing, faint/dizzy, rapid heart rate etc)?

Thanks very much.

 

[Gordon]

I was wondering, do dentists consider nerve pain to be a known rare reaction to chlorhexidine digluconate, or is it generally thought that people can only get the rare traditional allergy to it (local skin/gum reaction, local swelling, rash, itch, wheezing, faint/dizzy, rapid heart rate etc)?

I can't speak for all dentists. But personally, I've never seen a response other than traditional allergy and that was only 1 time in 45 years...

There's no reason why you should encounter CHx in the future, if you need a mild oral antiseptic then Difflam (Benzydamine Hydrochloride) is just as good (and tastes a lot better!).

 

[Annie364]

Thank you so much Gordon, that's really good to know.

I looked up Difflam oral solution and it looks good so if I need something in the future I can go with that one.