Why You Should Avoid Root Canals Like the Plague

Many people have had questions about root canals so I thought it would be wise to repost this article. It was an interview with Dr. George Meinig, who was dentist and leader in teaching people about the dangers of root canals. He wrote the bookRoot Canal Cover Up. Because I first became aware of this information in the early '90s I was able to avoid having any root canals. I elected to have three teeth extracted and now have two bridges to replace those teeth. At the time that was my best option, as I believe that metal implants should be avoided. However in the last few years non-reactive metal implants made from zirconium have become available and that is what I would use now if I had to have an alternative to a root canal.

Why I Encourage You to Think Twice Before Getting a Root Canal

Please don't let your dentist mislead you that a root canal is your only option, or that it is entirely safe. Teeth are similar to other organ systems in your body in that they also require a blood supply, lymphatic and venous drainage, and nervous innervations. Root canals, however, are dead teeth, and these dead teeth typically become one of, if not the worst, sources of chronic bacterial toxicity in your body. If your kidney, liver or any other organ in your body dies, it will have to be removed so that bacteria and necrosis will not set in and kill you but teeth are commonly left dead in your body. Teeth have roots with main canals and thousands of side canals, and contained in those side canals are miles of nerves. When dentists perform a root canal, they remove the nerve from the main canals; however they do not have access to the microscopic side canals, which have dead nerves left behind in those spaces. Anaerobic bacteria, which do not require oxygen to survive, thrive in these side canals and excrete toxicity from digesting necrotic tissue that leads to chronic infection. Blood supply and lymphatics that surround those dead teeth drains this toxicity and allows it to spread throughout your body. This toxicity will invade all organ systems and can lead to a plethora of diseases such as autoimmune diseases, cancers, musculoskeletal diseases, irritable bowel diseases, and depression to name just a few.

Even antibiotics won't help in these cases, because the bacteria are protected inside of your dead tooth. It appears that the longer root canal-treated teeth stay in your body, the more your immune system becomes compromised.

Seek Out a Biological Dentist Who is Aware of Root Canal Dangers

If your dentist is not actively engaged in continuing education, and is not open to alternative, toxin-free forms of dentistry, there's a good chance he or she is not aware of the risks of -- and alternatives to -- root canals. A biological dentist will be able to provide you with a more comprehensive, holistic solution for your teeth that will not harm your health. Knowledgeable biological dentists can be hard to come by, so start your search by asking a friend, relative or neighbor who knows of one. If that fails you can contact several good natural health food stores in your area and ask a number of the employees or even the owner. The following links can also help you to find a biological dentist:

Dental Amalgam Mercury Solutions: e-mail dams@usfamily.net or call 651-6444572 for an information packet Consumers for Dental Choice International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology Holistic Dental Association International Association of Mercury Safe Dentists

An Interview with George Meinig, D.D.S.

Dr. Meinig brings an interesting perspective to expose the latent dangers of root canal therapy .Dr. Mening is particularly well qualified to comment on this topic as 60 years ago he was one of the founders of the American Association of Endodontists (root canal specialists)! So he's filled his share of root canals -- and when he wasn't filling canals himself, he was teaching the technique to dentists across the country at weekend seminars and clinics.

After he retired he decided to read all 1,174 pages of the detailed research of Dr. Weston Price, (D.D.S). Dr. Meinig was startled and shocked as he found a valid documentation of systemic illnesses resulting from latent infections lingering in filled roots. After reviewing Dr. Price's materials he wrote "Root Canal Cover Up."

Please explain what the problem is with root canal therapy.

GM: First, let me note that my book is based on Dr. Weston Price's 25 years of careful, impeccable research. He led a 60-man team of researchers whose findings -suppressed until now rank right up there with the greatest medical discoveries of all time. This is not the usual medical story of a prolonged search for the difficult-to-find causative agent of some devastating disease. Rather, it's the story of how a "cast of millions" (of bacteria) become entrenched inside the structure of teeth and end up causing the largest number of diseases ever traced to a single source.

What diseases? Can you give us some examples?

GM: Yes, a high percentage of chronic degenerative diseases can originate from root filled teeth. The most frequent were heart and circulatory diseases and he found 16 different causative agents for these. The next most common diseases were those of the joints, arthritis and rheumatism. In third place -- but almost tied for second -- were diseases of the brain and nervous system. After that, any disease you can name might (and in some cases has) come from root filled teeth. Let me tell you about the research itself. Dr. Price undertook his investigations in 1900. He continued until 1925, and published his work in two volumes in 1923. In 1915 the National Dental Association (which changed its name a few years later to The American Dental Association) was so impressed with his work that they appointed Dr. Price their first Research Director. His Advisory Board read like a Who's Who in medicine and dentistry for that era. They represented the fields of bacteriology, pathology, rheumatology, surgery, chemistry, and cardiology. At one point in his writings Dr. Price made this observation: "Dr. Frank Billings (M.D.), probably more than any other American internist, is due credit for the early recognition of the importance of streptococcal focal infections in systemic involvements."

What's really unfortunate here is that very valuable information was covered up and totally buried some 70 years ago by a minority group of autocratic doctors who just didn't believe or couldn't grasp - the focal infection theory.

What is the "focal infection" theory?

GM: This states that germs from a central focal infection -- such as your teeth, teeth roots, inflamed gum tissues, or maybe tonsils -- metastasize to hearts, eyes, lungs, kidneys, or other organs, glands and tissues, establishing new areas of the same infection. Hardly theory any more, this has been proven and demonstrated many times over. It's 100 percent accepted today. But it was revolutionary thinking during World War I days, and the early 1920's! Today, both patients and physicians have been "brain washed" to think that infections are less serious because we now have antibiotics. Well, yes and no. In the case of rootfilled teeth, the no longer-living tooth lacks a blood supply to its interior. So circulating antibiotics don't faze the bacteria living there because they can't get at them.

You're assuming that ALL root-filled teeth harbor bacteria and/or other infective agents?
GM: Yes. No matter what material or technique is used -- and this is just as true today -the root filling shrinks minutely, perhaps microscopically. Further and this is key -- the bulk of solid appearing teeth, called the dentin, actually consists of miles of tiny tubules. Microscopic organisms lurking in the maze of tubules simply migrate into the interior of the tooth and set up housekeeping. A filled root seems to be a favorite spot to start a new colony. One of the things that makes this difficult to understand is that large, relatively harmless bacteria common to the mouth, change and adapt to new conditions. They shrink in size to fit the cramped quarters and even learn how to exist (and thrive!) on very little food. Those that need oxygen mutate and become able to get along without it. In the process of adaptation these formerly friendly "normal" organisms become pathogenic (capable of producing disease) and more virulent (stronger) and they produce much more potent toxins. Today's bacteriologists are confirming the discoveries of the Price team of bacteriologists. Both isolated in root canals the same strains of streptococcus, staphylococcus and spirochetes.

Is everyone who has ever had a root canal filled made ill by it?
GM: No. We believe now that every root canal filling does leak and bacteria do invade the structure. But the variable factor is the strength of the person's immune system. Some healthy people are able to control the germs that escape from their teeth into other areas of the body. We think this happens because their immune system lymphocytes (white blood cells) and other disease fighters aren't constantly compromised by other ailments. In other words, they are able to prevent those new colonies from taking hold in other tissues throughout the body. But over time, most people with root filled teeth do seem to develop some kinds of systemic symptoms they didn't have before.

It's really difficult to grasp that bacteria are imbedded deep in the structure of seemingly hard, solid-looking teeth.
GM: I know. Physicians and dentists have that same problem, too. You really have to visualize the tooth structure -- all of those microscopic tubules running through the dentin. In a healthy tooth, those tubules transport a fluid that carries nourishment to the inside. For perspective, if the tubules of a front single-root tooth, were stretched out on the ground they'd stretch for three miles! A root filled tooth no longer has any fluid circulating through it, but the maze of tubules remains. The anaerobic bacteria that live there seem remarkably safe from antibiotics. The bacteria can migrate out into surrounding tissue where they can "hitch hike" to other locations in the body via the bloodstream. The new location can be any organ or gland or tissue, and the new colony will be the next focus of infection in a body plagued by recurrent or chronic infections. All of the "building up" done to try to enhance the patient's ability to fight infections - to strengthen their immune system - is only a holding action. Many patients won't be well until the source of infection - the root canal tooth - is removed.

I don't doubt what you're saying, but can you tell us more about how Dr. Price could be sure that arthritis or other systemic conditions and illnesses really originated in the teeth -- or in a single tooth?
GM: Yes. Many investigations start with the researcher just being curious about something - and then being scientifically careful enough to discover an answer, and then prove it's so, many times over. Dr. Price's first case is very well documented. He removed an infected tooth from a woman who suffered from severe arthritis.

As soon as he finished with the patient, he implanted the tooth beneath the skin of a healthy rabbit. Within 48 hours the rabbit was crippled with arthritis! Further, once the tooth was removed the patient's arthritis improved dramatically. This clearly suggested that the presence of the infected tooth was a causative agent for both that patient's and the rabbit's - arthritis.

Here's the actual story of that first patient from Dr. Meinig's book:
"(Dr. Price) had a sense that, even when (root canal therapy) appeared successful, teeth containing root fillings remained infected. That thought kept prying on his mind, haunting him each time a patient consulted him for relief from some severe debilitating disease for which the medical profession could find no answer. Then one day while treating a woman who had been confined to a wheelchair for six years from severe arthritis, he recalled how bacterial cultures were taken from patients who were ill and then inoculated into animals in an effort to reproduce the disease and test the effectiveness of drugs on the disease. With this thought in mind, although her (root filled) tooth looked fine, he advised this arthritic patient, to have it extracted. He told her he was going to find out what it was about this root filled tooth that was responsible for her suffering. "All dentists know that sometimes arthritis and other illnesses clear up if bad teeth are extracted. However, in this case, all of her teeth appeared in satisfactory condition and the one containing this root canal filling showed no evidence or symptoms of infection. Besides, it looked normal on x-ray pictures. "Immediately after Dr. Price extracted the tooth he dismissed the patient and embedded her tooth under the skin of a rabbit. In two days the rabbit developed the same kind of crippling arthritis as the patient - and in ten days it died. "..The patient made a successful recovery after the tooth's removal! She could then walk without a cane and could even do fine needlework again. That success led Dr. Price to advise other patients, afflicted with a wide variety of treatment defying illnesses, to have any root filled teeth out." In the years that followed, he repeated this procedure many hundreds of times. He later implanted only a portion of the tooth to see if that produced the same results. It did. He then dried the tooth, ground it into powder and injected a tiny bit into several rabbits. Same results, this time producing the same symptoms in multiple animals. Dr. Price eventually grew cultures of the bacteria and injected them into the animals. Then he went a step further. He put the solution containing the bacteria through a filter

small enough to catch the bacteria. So when he injected the resulting liquid it was free of any infecting bacteria. Did the test animals develop the illness? Yes. The only explanation was that the liquid had to contain toxins from the bacteria, and the toxins were also capable of causing disease. Dr. Price became curious about which was the more potent infective agent, the bacteria or the toxin. He repeated that last experiment, injecting half the animals with the toxincontaining liquid and half of them with the bacteria from the filter. Both groups became ill, but the group injected with the toxins got sicker and died sooner than the bacteria injected animals."]

That's amazing. Did the rabbits always develop the same disease the patient had?
GM: Mostly, yes. If the patient had heart disease the rabbit got heart disease. If the patient had kidney disease the rabbit got kidney disease, and so on. Only occasionally did a rabbit develop a different disease -- and then the pathology would be quite similar, in a different location.

If extraction proves necessary for anyone reading this, do you want to summarize what's special about the extraction technique?
GM: Just pulling the tooth is not enough when removal proves necessary. Dr. Price found bacteria in the tissues and bone just adjacent to the tooth's root. So we now recommend slow-speed drilling with a burr, to remove one millimeter of the entire bony socket. The purpose is to remove the periodontal ligament (which is always infected with toxins produced by streptococcus bacteria living in the dentin tubules) and the first millimeter of bone that lines the socket (which is usually infected). There's a whole protocol involved, including irrigating with sterile saline to assure removal of the contaminated bone chips, and treating the socket to stimulate and encourage infection-free healing. I describe the procedure in detail, step by step, in my book [pages 185 and 186].

Perhaps we should back up and talk about oral health -- to PREVENT needing an extraction. Caries or inflamed gums seem much more common than root canals. Do they pose any threat?

GM: Yes, they absolutely do. But let me point out that we can't talk about oral health apart from total health. The problem is that patients and dentists alike haven't come around to seeing that dental caries reflect systemic -- meaning "whole body" -- illness. Dentists have learned to restore teeth so expertly that both they and their patients have come to regard tooth decay as a trivial matter. It isn't. Small cavities too often become big cavities. Big cavities too often lead to further destruction and the eventual need for root canal treatment.

Then talk to us about prevention.

GM: The only scientific way to prevent tooth decay is through diet and nutrition. Dr. Ralph Steinman did some outstanding, landmark research at Loma Linda University. He injected a glucose solution into mice -- into their bodies, so the glucose didn't even touch their teeth. Then he observed the teeth for any changes. What he found was truly astonishing. The glucose reversed the normal flow of fluid in the dentin tubules, resulting in all of the test animals developing severe tooth decay! Dr. Steinman demonstrated dramatically what I said a minute ago: Dental caries reflect systemic illness. Let's take a closer look to see how this might happen. Once a tooth gets infected and the cavity gets into the nerve and blood vessels, bacteria find their way into those tiny tubules of the dentin. Then no matter what we do by way of treatment, we're never going to completely eradicate the bacteria hiding in the miles of tubules. In time the bacteria can migrate through lateral canals into the surrounding bony socket that supports the tooth. Now the host not only has a cavity in a tooth, plus an underlying infection of supporting tissue to deal with, but the bacteria also exude potent systemic toxins. These toxins circulate throughout the body triggering activity by the immune system -and probably causing the host to feel less well. This host response can vary from just dragging around and feeling less energetic, to overt illness -- of almost any kind. Certainly, such a person will be more vulnerable to whatever "bugs" are going around, because his/her body is already under constant challenge and the immune system continues to be "turned on" by either the infective agent or its toxins -- or both.

What a fascinating concept. Can you tell us more about the protective nutrition you mentioned?
GM: Yes. Dr. Price traveled all over the world doing his research on primitive peoples who still lived in their native ways. He found fourteen cultural pockets scattered all over the globe where the natives had no access to "civilization" - and ate no refined foods. Dr. Price studied their diets carefully. He found they varied greatly, but the one thing they had in common was that they ate whole, unrefined foods. With absolutely no access to tooth brushes, floss, fluoridated water or toothpaste, the primitive peoples studied were almost 100% free of tooth decay. Further -- and not unrelated -- they were also almost 100% free of all the degenerative diseases we suffer -- problems with the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, joints, skin (allergies), and the whole gamut of illnesses that plague Mankind. No one food proved to be magic as a preventive food. I believe we can thrive best by eating a wide variety of whole foods.

Amazing. So by "diet and nutrition" for oral (and total) health you meant eating a pretty basic diet of whole foods?
GM: Exactly. And no sugar or white flour. These are (and always have been) the first culprits. Tragically, when the primitives were introduced to sugar and white flour their superior level of health deteriorated rapidly. This has been demonstrated time and again. During the last 60 or more years we have added in increasing amounts, highly refined and fabricated cereals and boxed mixes of all kinds, soft drinks, refined vegetable oils and a whole host of other foodless "foods." It is also during those same years that we as a nation have installed more and more root canal fillings -- and degenerative diseases have become rampant. I believe -- and Dr. Price certainly proved to my satisfaction -- that these simultaneous factors are NOT coincidences.

I certainly understand what you are saying. But I'm still a little shocked to talk with a dentist who doesn't stress oral hygiene.
GM: Well, I'm not against oral hygiene. Of course, hygiene practices are preventive, and help minimize the destructive effect of our "civilized," refined diet. But the real issue is still diet. The natives Dr. Price tracked down and studied weren't free of cavities, inflamed gums, and degenerative diseases because they had better tooth brushes!

It's so easy to lose sight of the significance of what Dr. Price discovered. We tend to sweep it under the rug -- we'd actually prefer to hear that if we would just brush better, longer, or more often, we too could be free of dental problems. Certainly, part of the purpose of my book is to stimulate dental research into finding a way to sterilize dentin tubules. Only then can dentists really learn to save teeth for a lifetime. But the bottom line remains: A primitive diet of whole unrefined foods is the only thing that has been found to actually prevent both tooth decay and degenerative diseases.

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Root Canal Alternatives

Email : 51

One should seek out a biologic dentist who is familar with this approach. A simple way to locate one in your community would be to contact all the health food stores for recommendations of the best mercury free dentist in the area. Already Have a Root Canal If you already have a root canal you can contact Dr. Pendergrass at the University of Kentucky for a kit that can assay to see if the there are organisms present in the tooth which are secreting potent toxins. If the tooth is infected with significant pathologic bacteria there are several options. The simple one would be to have the root canal redone with a material called Biocalex. Biocalex actually destroys many of the organisms and is far less likely to cause problems in the short run. If this fails and one is seriously debilitated it maybe necessary to extract the tooth. Dentist Tells You You Need A Root Canal If you are not seeing a biological dentist already try to find someone who understands this process. That would be the first step. Many biological dentists have alternatives, such as infra-red lasers, that can save the tooth in about 25% of the cases. If the tooth is dead and there is no way to revive it, then it would be best to have a root canal with Biocalex.

Additional educative link: http://www.drugs.com/cg/root-canal-treatment.html

American dental organization: http://www.ada.org

Tooth & Teeth: Root Canal Treatment: www.toothandteeth.com

ROOT CANAL THERAPY - DOES SAVING A TOOTH EFFECT YOUR HEALTH?
28th Jul 2003

A Brief Paper Summarizing Some Of The Difficulties Associated With The Treatment Of Dead Teeth

Prepared by Robert Gammal BDS (February 1997) rgammal@bcd.com.au WHAT IS ROOT CANAL THERAPY The aim of Root Canal Therapy is to 'save' a tooth which has become infected or dead, in an attempt to make it functional and pain free. After scraping out the inside of the tooth the dentist will attempt to disinfect the tooth and the canals to eliminate any source of infection. The canal is then filled with a combination of cement and Gutta Percha in an attempt to completely occlude these canals. This is supposedly to prevent any microorganisms from entering the tooth either through the crown or the root. If you consider pain control, mechanical function and aesthetics to be the limit of good dental treatment, then you will have "SAVED" the tooth. If systemic effects are included in your concept of dentistry, than you must understand that all that has happened, is that you have kept dead, infected tissue, buried in the bone, within a couple of inches from your brain. For some obscure reason we are all conditioned to think that teeth are not a part of the body, but that they are inert calcified material, and that they are sort of dead anyway. Dentistry is the only one of all the medical & para-medical professions that thinks it is a good idea to keep dead, gangrenous tissue in the body. The way to do this is to perform a Root Canal Therapy . One eminent Endodontist says: [1] "It is wrong to speak of (Root Canal Therapy) as a dead tooth; it is more correct to describe such a tooth as nonvital or , better, pulpless. Even though the central blood supply to the tooth has been lost, the tooth itself still retains it's connection to the body via the periodontal membrane and the cementum." This is like saying that even though the blood supply to your leg may be completely cut off , it would be wrong to suggest that the leg is dead, because it is still connected to your body by your hip joint! The Oxford dictionary defines 'non-vital' as "Fatal To Life". It defines 'Dead' as "No longer Alive". THE RITUAL OF FALSE BELIEFS There are many presumptions about Root Canal Therapy which are based in myth rather than science. The philosophy underlying the teaching of dentistry limits it's practice to mechanics, pain control and aesthetics. The systemic effects of dental treatment are rarely considered. Dr. Weston Price was the leading dental researcher at the turn of the century. He was the head of the American Dental Association and wrote numerous papers on subjects as diverse as the role of nutrition on dental health to the effects of dead teeth and root canal therapy on systemic health. Dr. Price researched the effects of Root Canal Therapy for over twenty years. He was able to correlate different disease states with the types of pathology seen around dead teeth. He demonstrated thousands of times, the creation of diseases from non-vital teeth. He demonstrated how every belief about Root Canal Therapy, held by the dental community at the time, was based on a complete lack of scientific research. They were myths which developed and were then believed. These beliefs have now become set in concrete as truths by the current dental communities. If you think that the research is out of date, you should realise that the techniques, most of the materials, and some of the instruments that were used then are identical to those used today. The medicaments used to 'sterilize' teeth then, are still being used today - Camphor, Phenol, Formaldehyde, Menthol. Recently published research, completely supports that done by Dr Price. Specially that of Dr. Patrick Strtebeker, Assoc. Professor of Neural Surgery at Karolinska University in Sweden [2,3 4,5] , and the work of Dr. Eugene Ratner [6,7] in the United States.

Some of the myths that are still perpetuated include: 1. You can see infection on an x-ray FALSE! Only if the angle is correct you may see some bone loss on an x-ray. It is impossible to demonstrate infection with an x-ray as dental radiographs only 'see' hard tissue. They do not see soft tissue or infections. Due to the shadow cast by the root it may also be impossible to see the bone loss. 2. You can gauge the extent of infection by the amount of bone loss on an x-ray. FALSE! It is assumed in dentistry that the extent of bone loss is a direct indication of the amount of infection present. This is a false assumption because the bone loss may take time to develop. The extent of the bone loss about the end of the root is also a function of the body's immune system being able to isolate the infection process. It has little to do with the degree of infection.[8] Sometimes there is no bone loss, but instead, a condensation of bone about the end of a dead tooth. We are taught in dentistry that this indicates a lack of infection. The reality is that teeth showing a 'Condensing Osteitis' are demonstrating that the body's immune system is incapable of quarantining the infection locally.19 These are often the teeth which cause the greatest systemic effects. This is put neatly by Dr Josef Issels 1995 (translated direct from German): "If the local resistance is already so weakened that the inflammatory focus no longer can become encapsulated, the inflammatory toxins will infiltrate without hindrance into the pulpa and the whole organism. If an inflammatory process can no longer be localised and encapsulated, it proves, as emphasised by Pischinger and Kellner that the organism has become largely non reactive. On an X-ray, these teeth normally show no translucence. This is characterised as X-ray negative . In our cancer patients, such non-encapsulated focus, and therefore X-ray negative teeth, do frequently exist. This indicates the enormity of low resistance of these patients." [9] 3. You can determine the length of a tooth by x-ray. FALSE! Dentistry teaches that a root canal must be filled to within 1mm of the root apex. The apex of a root canal is only rarely determinable by X-ray. Thus most root canals are worked too short, or so long that the root filling will protrude through the end of the tooth and into the bone. This is born out by research published in the dental literature: "Thirty two canals in four mongrel dogs were treated endodontically. The mandibular third and fourth premolars were selected for study because their apices were widely spaced and could be studied individually without danger of confusion" "Examination of the histologic sections revealed that in some cases root canal instrumentation had been terminated slightly short of the anatomic apex. Moreover some canals which appeared reontgenographically to be filled slightly short of the apex actually were associated with extrusion of some particles of sealer into the periodontal ligament space" Five canals were accidentally overfilled. Of the 32 tested, 4 were overfilled. Therefore 5 out of 28 canals which were radiographically under-filled were in fact overfilled. This is a failure rate of 17% in terms of basic endodontic procedure. "In the canals which were overfilled, the extruded materials were always associated with advanced destruction of the surrounding tissue and liquification necrosis" [10] It is not possible with an x-ray to see:

* * * *

the the the the

end of the root canal, angle of the root canal, number of canals or various branches of each canal

4. It is possible to actually treat all of the hollow areas of the tooth. This is assumed to be limited to the actual root canals. False! It is assumed that the only part of the tooth which contains soft tissue is the actual root canal. Even in the latest Australian Dental Association handout on root therapy they state "All root canals in the effected tooth must be treated"[11]. Unfortunately the root canals are the smallest area of the tooth which contains nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue. The root canals are really like the tap root of a tree - one main root with hundreds of branches coming off it and opening to the edge of the root all the way along its length. It is impossible to treat these accessory canals. As well, the dentine is not a solid structure. It is made of tubules which extend from the surface of the root canal to the enamel of the crown and to the cementum on the root surface. Each tubule is estimated to be able to contain 8 bacteria across its diameter. In a front tooth which has only one root there is over three kilometers of tubing. This equates to billions of microorganisms in just one tooth. In comparison to the volume contained in the accessory canals and the dentine tubules, that of the root canal is actually quite small. It is not possible to remove dead infected soft tissue from whole of the tooth. When only the root canals are treated there remains a massive amount of gangrenous tissue which is infected by anaerobic microorganisms. Dr Issels puts it this way; (note that this is a translation from German and directly quoted) [9] "Altmann, Doepke and Pritz, as well as Fischer, Hess and other researchers have become involved with the fine structure of the tooth. They have found that the hard substance of the tooth in no way resembles an avital structure but maintains an active metabolic process with pulpa and dental periosteum. The pulper cavity and the external surface of the root are connected with each other via very fine canals. They are again connected via the mesenchymal fissures and capillars of the central periosteum with the canal system of the jaw bone and its pulper spaces and therefore with the general organism. This knowledge has refuted the concept, which had existed for decades, that the tooth, after removal and sealing off the pulper cavity, would be an isolated, avital structure no longer maintaining further exchange transactions. Even the most perfect preservation will only reach the most vertical intermediary trunk of the root canal system. In no way will it reach the lateral branches or the numerous dental canalculi, which likewise takes its exit from the root canal. Even after the most precise preparation of the root canal, there will always remain protein in the adjoining areas. This protein is usually infected and denaturated by filling materials, whereby toxic decomposition products will be formed. It was demonstrated by MEYER (Goettingen), that the dental canaliculi exhibits an exuberant bacterial flora. The decomposition toxins produced by these microbes can, with a dental root filling, no longer empty into the oral cavity. They can only be derived via the cross connection and the unsealed branches of the root canal finally reaching the pulper spaces of the jaw and thereby the flowing systems of the organism. Because of the devitalising and preservation procedures, the tooth has become a "toxin factory" by which the organism will be continually damaged." It is claimed by most dental authorities that the bodies immune system will take care of what is left over. This is an assumption based in fantasy. If the blood supply of the tooth has been removed (which is what happens when the root canal is 'cleaned out') the cells of the immune system cannot get there. Often during or before root therapy is started the dentist will administer antibiotics. This may lead to a rapid reduction in pain. Unfortunately both the dentist and the patient assume that the infection has been eradicated. The reason that the pain disappears is only because there is a reduction in pressure from around

the end of the root. The antibiotics do not effect the organisms which reside within the tooth which are the original and continuing source of microorganisms and their toxins. As there is no blood supply to the tooth it is impossible to get the antibiotics in there either. [12] " In the case of an acutely infected tooth there is no natural process of drainage and there is no mechanism by which the antibiotics which have been administered can reach the bacteria inside the tooth" [1] 5. It is possible to sterilize the canal by using medicaments placed inside the canal. FALSE! It is impossible to sterilize the canals. The medicaments and antibiotics used do not penetrate the dentine tubules. Dr. Price was even able to culture bacteria from teeth through which he had poured fuming formaldehyde. Even the recent dental literature reflects this: "It is now known that complete sterilization of an infected root canal is very difficult to achieve and complete removal of all pulp tissue remnants frequently is not possible." [13] 6. Bacteria that penetrate the canals and tubules are usually the 'aerobic' type found in the mouth. When the canal is sealed and the oxygen supply cut of, these bacteria die. FALSE! The bacteria, yeasts and other organisms which enter the tooth do not die when the oxygen supply is reduced (as happens inside the root canal system). They undergo what is called a pleomorphic change[14,15] and become 'anaerobic' bacteria. They literally change form and become bacteria that do not need oxygen to live. It is now known that dead teeth are usually heavily infected with gram negative anaerobic bacteria.[16] Sundqvist, in 1976 isolated 88 species of bacteria out of 32 root canals with periapical disease.[17] "Only 5 of those bacteria could grow in air. Strict anaerobic bacteria must have played a decisive pathological role although a limited number of facultative species have been show to induce periapical lesions.." Long standing populations of infected root canals do contain a mixture of strict anaerobes. Low grade but chronic periapical inflammation is the result that may last for years." Other organisms such as yeasts, funguses and 'cell-wall-deficient forms' (Lida Mattman) also inhabit this tissue[18]. The dead teeth thus become a focus of infection which can cause numerous disease states throughout the body. Anaerobic bacteria produce incredibly potent neurologic and hemolytic toxins. A true "Toxin Factory". 7. If it does not hurt it must be OK! FALSE! Weston Price's comments are most succinct; "Local comfort......... may constitute both what is probably one of the greatest paradoxes and one of the costliest diagnostic mistakes through injury to health, that exists in dental and medical practice ............ the absence of this local reaction and the consequent destruction by the infection products, permits them to pass through the body to irritate and break down that patient's most susceptible tissue". Lack of pain around the tooth is usually taken to mean a successful root therapy. Unfortunately it does not rule out the possibility of systemic effects. 8. Systemic effects need not be thought of in relation to dental disease. FALSE! All researchers from Weston Price[19] , Billings, Rosenow, Stortebecker, Ratner and many others, have demonstrated the spread of systemic disease from infected teeth and gums. It is only the dental profession, who are not trained in medicine, that refuse to accept this basic concept. The research of Steinman[20] in the 70's conclusively demonstrates the relationship of metabolic dysfunction and dental disease.

Patrick Stortebecker and others have demonstrated the transport of all materials, microorganisms and their toxins directly from the tooth back to the brain via the blood and by transport along the nerve fibres.[2,3,4,5] Many other research articles have shown that whatever you put in a tooth can be transported to the rest of the body. [21,22 23,24] As Schondorf states "A root canal treatment which does not plant a focus, does not exist" References: 1-Focal Infection - The endodontic point of view Ehrmann Oral Surgery Vol 44 No 4 October 1977 2-Stortebecker P "Dental Infectious Foci and diseases of the nervous system - spread of microorganisms and their products from dental infectious foci along direct cranial venous pathways eliciting a toxic - infectious encephalopathy" Acta. Psych Neural Scand 36 Suppl. 157 (1961) 62 3-Stortebecker P "The cranial venous system filled from pulp of a tooth - Proceedings" 3rd Int. Congress of Nero Surg. Copenhagen Aug 1965 4-Stortebecker P "Dental significance of pathways for dissemination from infectious foci." J Can Dent Assoc 33:6 1967 pp301-311 5-Stortebecker P "Chronic dental infections in the etiology of Glioblastomas. 8th int congress" Neuropathy. Washington D.C. Sept 1978 J Neuropth. Exp. Neurology 37(s) 1978 6-Shklar , Person, Ratner. Oral pathology and Trigeminal Neuralgia III J Dent Res. 1976;55(B):299 7-Ratner E., Langer., Evins M., alveolar Cavitational Osteopathosis manifestations of an infectious process and its implications in the causation of chronic pain. J Periodoontal 1986;57:593-603 8-M.K Sharief N Eng J Med 1991 325:467-72 9-More Cures for Cancer Translation form the German by Dr Josef Issels Helfer Publishing E. -Schwabe, Bad Homburg FRG. 10-Malcolm Davis . Periapical and intracanal healing following incomplete root canal fillings in dogs. Oral Surgery May 1971 Vol 31 No 5. 11-Australian Dental Association handout December 1996 12-Philip Delivanis Oral Surgery 1981 Vol 52 No 4 13-Phillip Delivanis Oral Surgery 1981 Vol 52 No 4 14-The persecution and trial of Gaston Naessens. By Christopher Bird Pub. HJ Kramer Inc Tiburon CA ISBN 109876543 (1991) 15-The Cancer Cure that worked. The Rife Report. Life of Dr Royal Rife. By Barry Lynes , Marcus books 1994 16-K.E Safvi J. Endo. vol 17 No 1 Jan 1991 17-Wu, Moorer, Wesselink. Capacity of anaerobic bacteria enclosed in a simulated root canal to induce inflammation. Int. Endodontic Journal (1989) 22, 269-277 18-Personal research with Dr J Burke of Australian Biologics, Sydney 19-Weston Price. Dental Infections Oral and Systemic. Vol 1 & 2 20-R.Steinman J Southern California State Dental Assoc. Vol 28, No11 November 1960 21-Capra N. Andersopn KV. Pride JB. Jones TE simultaneous "Demonstration of Neuronal Somata that innovate the tooth pulp and adjacent periodontal tissues using two retrogradely transported anatomic markers." Exp. Neurol 86(1984) 165-170 22-Marfurt C. Turner D Uptake and transneuronal transport of Horseradish Peroxidase - Wheat Germ aglutinin by Tooth Pulp Primary Afferent Neurons' Brain Res. 452(1988) 381-387 23-Marfurt C. Turner D 'The central Projections of tooth pulp afferent neurons in the rat as determined by the Transganglionic transport of Horseradish Peroxidase" J. of Comp.Neuro 223 (1984) 535-547. 24-Arvidson J. Gobel S. "An HRP study of the Central Projections of Primary Trigeminal Neurons which innovate tooth pulps in the cat. " Brain Res. 210 (1981) 1-16.

Negative Effects of Root Canals Article

The following article, written by Jo Hartley of NaturalNews.com in January of 2009, explains some of the risks of conventional root canal therapies.
(NaturalNews) Is it wise and prudent to have a root canal? There are issues with root canal therapy that everyone should know before deciding to have one.
negative effects of root canals

There has been recent research that presents valid proof of systemic illnesses that are a direct result from latent infections lingering in filled roots. These conclusions are based on research performed by Dr. Weston Price over a 25 year period in the beginning of the twentieth century. The research done by Dr. Weston Price discusses how root canals can cause bacteria to become trapped inside the structure of teeth. This can be the cause of many diseases that can be traced to one single source.
negative effects of root canals

A high percentage of chronic degenerative diseases may actually originate from root canals. The most common diseases are circulatory and heart disease. The next common diseases are those involving joints and arthritis. The allegation is that there was a series of events that led to important information being hidden about seventy years ago by a group of doctors who didn't fully understand the "focal infection theory."What is the focal infection theoryand how is it connected to root canals?
negative effects of root canals

The focal infection theory says that germs from a central focal infection (decaying teeth, roots, inflamed gum tissues, and tonsils, can metastasize to the heart, eyes, kidneys, lungs, or other organs and tissues. This then spreads the same infection to these new areas. This theory has been proven extensively and is regarded as fact.
negative effects of root canals

Focal infection states that the bacteria can move into surrounding tissues and travel to other locations in the body through the bloodstream. This new location may be an organ or tissue and the new colony will be a new infection for the body. Currently, however, patients and doctors have been led into complacency by believing that infections are not as serious because of antibiotics. This is simply not true. In the situation of root-filled teeth, the no longer alive tooth does not have blood being supplied to its interior. This means that antibiotics will not reach this area and will not fight any bacteria that exist there.
negative effects of root canals

Dr. Price performed many experiments while conducting his research. One such experiment involved removing an infected tooth from a woman who had severe arthritis. Dr. Price took the infected tooth and implanted it under the skin of a healthy rabbit. Incredibly, within 48 hours the rabbit had severe arthritis as well. The claim is that all root-filled teeth contain bacteria or other infective agents. It doesn't matter what technique is used or what material is used.
negative effects of root canals

Another important point is that the main part of teeth that appear solid is called "dentin." While this appears solid, it is actually made up of tiny "tubules." In healthy teeth, these tubules will transport a fluid that nourishes the inside of the tooth. A root-filled tooth does not have any fluid circulating through it anymore, but the tubules remain. The bacteria that are present in this area of the root-filled tooth seem to be out of reach of antibiotics. The tiny organisms hiding in the tubules move further in to the interior of the tooth to stay and then multiply.

One more factor that plays an important role in this situation is the fact that large bacteria are common in the mouth. These bacteria will change and adapt to changing conditions. They can shrink to fit small areas and they can also survive on small amounts of food. The organisms that must have oxygen are able to mutate and then survive without oxygen. Because of this adaptation, these organisms can become pathogenic and are able to produce serious disease. Today's scientists are able to confirm the research conducted by Dr. Price all those years ago. Recent research has shown strains of "streptococcus," "staphylococcus," and "spirochetes" existing in root canals. Root canals will not make everyone sick. However, current belief is that every root canal filling will leak and this leakage will allow bacteria to invade the structure. The variable between those who become sick with a degenerative disease and those who do not seems to be the strength of a person's immune system. People who are in good health will be able to control the organisms that escape from their teeth and infiltrate other areas of the body. This is because the white blood cells and other fighters are not constantly busy with other diseases. The immune system is able to prevent new bacterial colonies from taking over other tissues in the body. Over time, however, most people who have had root canals seem to develop various types of systemic symptoms that were not previously present. If an extraction is necessary, it is now apparent that merely extracting the tooth is not enough. It has been determined that bacteria are present in the tissues and bone just adjacent to a tooth's root. The new recommendation is slow-speed drilling with a burr to remove 1 millimeter of the entire bony socket. If the tooth is dead and can't be saved, then the best course of action would be to have a root canal with a material called "Biocalex." "Biocalex" eliminates many of the dangerous bacteria and will cause fewer complications. If this fails, it may be necessary to extract the tooth. It would be best to find a biological dentist for this procedure. Many biological dentists have alternative methods that can save a tooth in some cases. This concludes the article. It is important to note that the filling compound"Biocalex" is no longer manufactured, but there are other compounds, such as the tooth root sealer "MTA," and the biocompatible material"calcium oxide" to fill the root chambers. These new compounds are just as effective, if not better, than the old Biocalex, and achieve the same purpose. For healthier, more patient-friendly alternatives to the standard root canal, go to the next page.

RTC Alternative Treatment: http://www.healthyrootcanal.org/alternativerootcanaltreatments.html