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Down1
25th November 2010, 05:17 PM
Interesting stuff I was unaware of.

Why You Should Avoid Root Canals Like the Plague

by Joseph Mercola
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 book Root 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 651-644-4572 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


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 toxin-containing 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 a
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.
For More Information

Dr. Mening's Root Canal Cover Up and Dr. Price's book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration can be purchased at the Price Pottinger Foundation.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

As Dr. Meinig stressed in the interview above, in the quest for healthy teeth and gums, nothing may be more important than your diet.

In the 1900s, Dr. Weston A. Price, a dentist, did extensive research on the link between oral health and physical diseases. He was one of the major nutritional pioneers of all time, and his classic book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration is full of wonderful pictures documenting the perfect teeth of the native tribes he visited who were still eating their traditional diets.

Dr. Price noticed some similarities between the native diets that allowed the people to thrive and maintain such healthy smiles.

Among them:

* The foods were natural, unprocessed, and organic (and contained no sugar except for the occasional bit of honey or maple syrup).
* The people ate foods that grew in their native environment. In other words, they ate locally grown, seasonal foods.
* Many of the cultures ate unpasteurized dairy products, and all of them ate fermented foods.
* The people ate a significant portion of their food raw.
* All of the cultures ate animal products, including animal fat and, often, full-fat butter and organ meats.

So, if you want to eat your way to healthy teeth, taking a lesson from these previous native generations is essential. You should:

* Find out your nutritional type, and eat accordingly. This will tell you which foods are ideal for your unique biochemistry.
* Eat at least one-third or more of your food raw.
* Avoid processed foods, sugar, refined flour and all artificial flavorings, colorings, and artificial sweeteners. Instead, seek out locally grown foods that are in-season.
* Enjoy fermented foods like natto, kefir and cultured veggies.
* Make sure you eat enough healthy fats, including those from animal sources like omega-3 fat, and reduce your intake of omega-6 from vegetable oils.

All of the brushing and flossing in the world will not give you the healthy teeth that the above steps will, so if you value your pearly whites – and want to steer clear of root canals and other dental work – get started eating a healthier diet today.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig5/mercola78.1.html

Easier to read at the link.

Glass
25th November 2010, 06:05 PM
wow, interesting. I had a canal done about 6 years ago. Then I had it redone about 18 months ago because another section of the tooth came away. It is definately dead and I have wondered about having it pulled. It is probably a good idea because it is affecting teeth next to it.