When people go to school to become physicians, they are taught relatively little about dental concerns. After all, what are dentists for, right? Likewise, dentists are little trained in matters of systemic or total body health. Those are considered the natural concern of physicians.
On one level, this is appropriate, as specialization can lead to better care. But on another, it intensifies the illusion that the mouth is an entirely separate organ from the rest of the body and that anything that happens in the mouth has local effects only.
How could this be? The oral structures are directly connected with the sinuses and upper respiratory tract. They are connected by nerves, blood and lymph vessels and so on, through which information or material can be passed along to and from every cell in the body. There are numerous routes for bacteria and other pathogens to migrate from the friendly confines of the oral cavity to anywhere they please, infecting and causing disease and dysfunction in any number of organs, depending on the type of bacteria and the condition of the immune system and biological terrain – your body’s internal environment, the state of which largely determines whether and how you’ll get sick.
Fortunately, conventional physicians and dentists both are beginning to understand and accept that there are strong relationships between dental and oral conditions and systemic health. It’s most accepted with respect to the strongly established link between periodontitis (gum disease) and heart disease. Diabetes and a range of inflammatory conditions also have been linked.
Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease process. It most commonly arises when bacterial biofilms (plaque) are not regularly or sufficiently disturbed by brushing, flossing and other oral hygiene practices. They multiply and colonize. As they begin to destroy the periodontal ligament and adjacent structures, pockets form around the teeth, giving the microbes an ideal environment for further colonization and growth: dark, moist and lacking oxygen (the microbes involved are anaerobic, thriving only when oxygen is not present). As their numbers continue to grow, some move into the general circulation via the blood and lymph systems. From here, they may be carried to any organ or area of the body. The heart has proven to be one of the most vulnerable sites for the colonization of pathogenic oral flora.
This sort of situation, in which local conditions have distant effects, is part of a body of knowledge known as focal infection theory. Periodontal disease can be one type of focal infection. Two other dental conditions have proven likewise: the presence of root canal teeth and cavitations.
Infected Root Canals
Root canals can be thought of as very deep fillings that are most often placed when decay has penetrated deeply into the core of a tooth – an area known as the pulpal complex. The tooth becomes a site of infection. To “save” it, an endodontist – a dentist who specializes in root canal therapy – drills into this sensitive area full of nerves and blood vessels, scrapes out the infected pulp, then fills and seals the narrow opening. The tooth is still there but now dead. What had made it vital – the nerves, vessels and other structures – is gone.
And the tooth is still likely infected.
Although mainstream dentists assure us that each root canal tooth is cleaned out and sterilized completely before the filling material is placed, doing so is a physical impossibility. Even if the pulpal chamber could be thoroughly cleaned out – something difficult enough to do, owing to its size and anatomical structure – bacteria and their metabolic waste cannot be removed from the miles of tiny dentinal tubules packed into each tooth, surrounding the pulp. Sealing the tooth provides these pathogens with that dark, moist, anaerobic environment in which they thrive – just as in a periodontal pocket. In fact, from the bacterial standpoint, it’s even better, as the seal effectively protects the microbes as they colonize, multiply and become more virulent through a process known as pleomorphism (literally meaning “many shapes”).
While the top and much of the tooth’s interior are sealed, the tooth is not completely blocked off from the rest of the body. There is an escape route through the vessels that extend into the tip of the tooth’s root. While nutrients via the blood don’t get in – indeed, why should they need to? there’s nothing to keep alive within the tooth – the microbes can and do get out and into the general circulation.
Even the cleanest, most “sterile” root canal tooth can remain infected. Scientists at ALT Corp have found that 99% of all root canal teeth contain pathogenic microbes. Where they go, what organs they affect and how depend on the specific type of bacteria involved. This has been known since the days of the great dental researcher Dr. Weston Price. Price found that if he extracted a root canal tooth from a person with a particular illness and then sewed that tooth under the skin of a rabbit, the rabbit would almost always develop the same type of illness experienced by the tooth donor. This not only shows that infection remains in the teeth but that the pathogens involved can affect other organs in the body.
The same sort of disease process is at work when it comes to the matter of cavitations, a condition very few dentists even know about.
In simplest terms, a cavitation is a hole in the jaw bone that has not healed correctly. There are many causes, including dental trauma, gum disease and toxic assault, but they most commonly occur when a socket is not cleaned thoroughly after tooth extraction. Bacteria remain. And once healthy tissue grows over the surgical site, the hole is effectively sealed off. Again, conditions are ripe for increased infection. Locally, the infection continues to destroy the tissues within, and the waste from the dead and decaying tissues exacerbates the infection.
As in the other cases, the infection does not remain localized. The pathogens have access to the general circulation via blood and lymph vessels. And again, where they go, what organs they affect and how depend on their type. Notably, mercury and other heavy toxic metals may also be distributed through the body via cavitations, as evidence suggests they can act as holding tanks of sorts for the vapor released by mercury fillings in the mouth. It is, in short, another route of access for systemic mercury poisoning.
Treating Focal Infections
Infected root canal teeth can be removed. Cavitational surgery can remove the source of infection and facilitate proper healing. The patient’s recovery can be supported through nutritional and homeopathic detox protocols or other complementary therapies.
Should you pursue these therapies? When cavitations exist, it is almost always recommended to have them properly treated. But what if you have root canals that don’t seem to be causing problems? Some people choose to remove them as a preventive measure. Others decide to play wait-and-see. As ever, it all boils down to how much risk you’re willing to take.
As with any sort of procedure, we cannot say that such treatments can or will cure all, especially when it comes to chronic, systemic illnesses. Be that as it may, removing toxins from your body must always be considered a positive thing. It gives your body a fighting chance to heal, be whole and thrive.
Learn more about cavitations
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Root canal image via Wikimedia Commons. Cavitation image via healthcarealternatives.net.