[hellinahandcart]

How old is your daughter?

Get her to a good periodontist and have them do a culture. I know from painful experience that if these bacteria are below your gums, they ain't going away without a serious intervention, and while they're not usually flesh-eating bacteria, they can cause recurring resistant infections and bone loss.

I avoided going because of the cost involved (most insurance plans cover NO perio work at all). Well, because I put it off for too long, I've now had to shell out money for bone grafts on top of shelling out for the gum surgery. Don't be like me!

[hope]

She's 19. And she cannot afford it... so guess who gets the honors. She was goofing off with a friend and fell and broke her front tooth down to the nerve...They did a root canal and it's not been quite right since. We are guessing that's the cause of the staph since it started with irritation in that area and then spread to her finger.

[Vinnie]

Everyone knows the link between strep and rheumatic heart disease, damaging the heart valves.
The line of thinking now is that gum bacteria may be linked to heart blood vessel plaques also.
( since I've had heart disease, I take a bolus of an antibiotic before any dental work, even a cleaning. The dentist won't touch me if I don't)

So get that checked out!