Recently, I read an article by Dr. Diane Meyer on root canal procedure. This is what she said and I agree that the health of your teeth can affect other parts of the body and you should look at all your options before making a decision to have a root canal.
By Dr. Diane Meyer
The controversy surrounding the safety of the root canal procedure has continued for over a hundred years. It began when Dr. Weston A. Price discovered there is no procedure that can completely sterilize a root canalled tooth. Thus, the root canalled tooth becomes a harbor for anaerobic bacteria and their associated toxins. These toxins and bacteria seep into the surrounding tissues and circulate throughout the body causing various health issues. Did you know this procedure is still practiced and promoted by endodontists today and is one of the most detrimental procedures to a person’s overall health?
It’s important to understand why and how root canals are performed. When the tooth becomes sick due to decay, poor nutrition, traumatic bite, injury, poor dentistry or stress/emotional conflicts and the dentist makes the call that the tooth can no longer be saved and will eventually die, a root canal or extraction is ordered. A root canal typically requires a local anesthetic. After the patient is numb, the insides of the tooth are stripped with a file and once the chamber(s) are stripped of all tissues sodium hypochlorite, also known as common household bleach, is used to “disinfect” the tooth. The inside of the tooth is then dried and filled. The filling material is typically gutta percha, the same material used inside golf balls, and then the tooth is sealed. The whole procedure is accomplished in one or two visits and the tooth is now considered “dead.” Additionally, a crown or reinforced filling will be placed on the tooth to prevent any fracturing.
Take a closer look at what’s really going on and here’s what we find: The main chamber has been cleaned out and packed with an inert material and supposedly disinfected. However, if you were to zoom in to the micrometer scale (the average width of a human hair equals 100 microns), the tooth would no longer look solid. In actuality, the tooth is porous and full of what are called microtubules. These mircotubles permeate throughout the entirety of the dentin. The microtubules are supported by their own vascular system, which connects to the main chamber. This whole network is why teeth are able to sense hot and cold sensations.
In truth, it is not possible to completely disinfect the tooth with all of these microtubules. Many biological/holistic dentists claim that a tooth can be completely disinfected using ozone. These dentists use this assertion to justify utilizing the root canal procedure within their practice. My personal experience with ozone shows otherwise. The ozone does not completely disinfect the tooth and you end up with the same situation as with conventional techniques.
The controversy surrounding the efficacy of root canals has been ongoing for years. It all started in the early nineteen hundreds by Dr. Weston A. Price. Motivated by the death of his only child at a very young age from endocarditis after having a root canal, Dr. Price began his research to prevent other parents from having the same experience as he did. He embarked upon a 25-year journey around the world where he studied the teeth, diets and bones of native populations. He was determined to find a group of indigenous people who were free from dental decay. Furthermore, he conducted numerous studies about the dangers of root canals.
Over the course of his studies, Dr. Price learned that many degenerative diseases originate from root canalled teeth. The most common diseases associated with root canals are heart and circulatory diseases. The next most common diseases are of the joints, arthritis and rheumatism, followed by diseases of the brain and nervous system.
Fast-forward 100 years and this procedure is still being performed today despite all the evidence against it. In fact, 25,000,000 root canal procedures are performed every year in the U.S. alone. Additionally, many new and different aliments, primarily autoimmune disorders, have been correlated with root canalled teeth.
Personally, I was first introduced to Dr. Price’s work 16 years ago. I’ve been very fortunate to study with Dr. Boyd Haley and Dr. Hal Huggins. Dr. Huggins has been carrying on Dr. Price’s work by studying the bacteria found within root canalled teeth. Through DNA analysis, he has identified at least 90 different organisms that can have detrimental effects on the human body. “When we examined root canal teeth, using DNA identification, we found microbes 100% of the time in hundreds of samples. Not just one microbe was found, but sometimes as many as 30 or 40 different primary anaerobic ones” (Huggins, 2012).
What many fail to realize is that a root canalled tooth no longer has any fluid circulating through it, but the maze of microtubules still remains. Due to this stagnant environment, the odontoblasts (i.e. cells in the tooth responsible for the creation of dentin) will shrivel and die. The once aerobic bacteria have now morphed into anaerobic bacteria. Worst of all, these anaerobic bacteria are no longer accessible to antibiotics. The lack of circulation throughout the tooth as well as no blood supply to the area is responsible for this unfriendly situation.
The ability for bacteria, in general, to move throughout the body has a long history in both the medical and dental communities. Likewise, a root canal treated tooth produces the same result. For example, a single branch of the central nervous system; the 5th cranial nerve or trigeminal nerve supplies the face. Bacteria from the mouth have been found to travel retrograde up the axon of the trigeminal nerve and elicit toxic infectious encephalopathy (i.e. infection of the brain) (Speransky, 1935).
Bacteria also have a negative effect on the meridian system of the teeth. The idea that teeth have energy meridians associated with them originates from the foundations of acupuncture. In acupuncture, there are various energy meridians that permeate the entire body. It has been documented that if the meridian system is interrupted (usually with a metal needle) there will be a noticeable effect elsewhere in the body. Building upon this logic, each tooth is connected to a certain area of the body and if it’s somehow interrupted (bacteria, dead, etc.) there will also be an effect elsewhere in the body.
Throughout his career, Dr. Price published numerous articles on his research into the toxicity of root canals. Unfortunately, the American Dental Association (ADA) denies his claims and asserts that the root canal is a “safe” dental procedure. However, they have no published data or actual research to support this. In the end, the ADA deliberately buried Dr. Price’s work and there it remained for a number of years, unread and unappreciated. Fortunately, his work did not go unnoticed forever.
Dr. George Meinig, an endodontist, was born in Chicago nearly 100 years ago. Early on in his adult life, Dr. Meinig was Captain in the U.S. Army during World War II. Afterwards, he decided that dentistry was the life for him and attended dental school shortly after being discharged. Following dental school, Dr. Meinig moved to Hollywood where he happily performed root canal therapy for many A-list actors. Eventually, he even became one of the founding members of the American Association of Endodontists.
Dr. Meinig’s notions of root canal therapy experienced an upheaval in the early 90’s when he was introduced to Dr. Price life’s work. He spent 18 months of intensive study reviewing all of Dr. Price’s work regarding root canals and was incredibly moved by what he had read. He decided to expose the truth about root canals to the public. In June of 1993, Dr. Meinig published Root Canal Cover Up. Thanks to this book, all of Dr. Price’s work was recognized.
Deciding to lose a tooth or not is a question many people struggle with. This is an irreversible decision that should be made once the Dentist and Doctor have exhausted all conservative efforts. It’s important to look at all your options before making a final decision. Look at what is causing the tooth to be in this position. Is it diet related? Is it bite related? Has the tooth been compromised by many dental fillings/crowns? Is the cause possibly emotional? Just because the tooth has an infection doesn’t mean that you have to lose it. Identify the cause and remove the cause if possible. If the tooth is condemned, please consider extraction over a root canal procedure. The evidence against the root canal is monumental and only grows with time. In the end, your health is in your hands and the choice is ultimately up to you.
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Dr. Meyer, B.S., DDS, is an Illinois holistic dentist who practices mercury free and mercury safe dentistry catering to the chemically sensitive and auto immune challenged individuals. She corroborates with the individual’s practitioner(s) to formulate the best possible treatment plan an outcome using safety protocols that protect the individual during the amalgam removal process. She has extensive knowledge in the mouth-body connection and has been trained by the most reputable doctors in the dental and medical fields. She offers biocompatible dentistry through serum blood testing for material compatibility, and/or biofeedback. Visit the website www.holisticdentistillinois.com to learn more about Dr. Meyer, the services she offers and the safety protocols she utilities in her office.
HealthKeepers Magazine August 2012