Root Canals: Pro and Con

Most dentist seem to feel that root canals are a good procedure- it saves a tooth, right? Well, maybe- but are there some down sides to that proposition? Yes, there are- a lot of them. Read and get the facts so you can make the right decision.

Root Canals: Why would anyone want a dead tooth in their mouth … for life?

Posted on March 17, 2012

Of all the dental procedures and dental materials utilized throughout the field of dentistry there is none more destructive to human health than root canals.

“It’s like putting a bullet in your mouth, and then just waiting for the day it might kill you.”
~ A Dental Consultant after years of observing the ravages of root canal ‘treatment’

Let’s first draw the picture – in living color – for you to look at closely before you choose to do a root canal(s) in your mouth.

This routine procedure involves the following technique every time the endodontist or general dentist gets busy in your mouth making canals in your teeth, some of which may be stubs at that point.  

First the dentist removes all the dental pulp from the tooth. “The dental pulp is the part in the center of a tooth made up of living connective tissue and cells called odontoblasts.“[1] This vital pulp, which is necessary for a living tooth to remain living, is full of blood vessels and nerve tissue. When this blood supply and network of nerves is extracted, the tooth is essentially devitalized, aka killed. The tooth is then completely unable to perform all the normal activities which are required for optimal tooth health.

Why would anyone, ever, want a dead tooth in their mouth ... for the rest of their life?!

Why Would I Want A Dead Tooth In My Mouth For Life?

So, the first question any rational person would ask themselves is: “Why would I want a dead tooth in my mouth … for the rest of my life?”

Good question!
Answer: You don’t want a dead tooth in your mouth for the rest of your life.

Please show us — The Health Coach — another instance in your body where a dead organ, tissue, limb, digit, etc. is purposefully kept in or attached to your body by the Medical Practitioner. Show us just one example.

Our experience has been that wherever an organ dies, the doctor removes it pronto. Whenever a limb becomes gangrenous, the surgeon amputates post haste. If your eye were to “die” due to some traumatic injury which became infected, the ophthalmologist would completely remove the eye leaving an empty socket cleaned out of all infected tissue, yes?

Why then does an endodontist go out of his way to keep your white shiny tooth in place even though he has just killed it?! The only reason he is able to get away with this extremely dangerous procedure is because of our ignorance often coupled with vanity, together with his/her ‘compelling’ sales pitch as to why you don’t want to lose the tooth (that’s another very long story for another dental coaching session).

Let’s revisit the dead tooth that sits in your mouth after the root canal is completed. Because it still appears white does that mean it is okay. If it turned black and oozed pus, what would you do with it? Wouldn’t you take it out? Well, here’s what’s REALLY going on with that tooth.

The human body was designed to rid itself of all dead and infected cells, tissues, organs, etc. Teeth are no different and it’s why we see so many toothless people around the world where there is not adequate preventive dental care and maintenance-oriented oral health. The body gets rid of the tooth that’s “gone bad”… one way or another.

You see, the tooth dentin* is full of thousands of microscopic dentin tubules which are critical to maintaining healthy teeth. Once the root canal is performed these tubules become home to all sorts of pathogenic bacteria and accumulated toxins which can no longer be removed because the tooth’s vascular system has been removed (and the tooth’s natural self-healing system has been totally incapacitated). All the normal activities that are carried out within this matrix, “which radiate outward through the dentin from the pulp to the exterior cementum or enamel border“, cease to take place. It’s important to understand that “these tubules contain fluid and cellular structures. As a result, dentin has a degree of permeability which can increase the sensation of pain and the rate of tooth decay.“[2]

*“Dentin is bone-like matrix characterized by multiple closely packed dentinal tubules that traverse its entire thickness and contain the cytoplasmic extensions of odontoblasts that once formed the dentine and maintain it.” (Per Wikipedia)

That’s enough anatomy for the time being; the upshot is that your dead, root-canaled tooth has now become a haven for all sorts of nasty pathogenic microorganisms which sit there for the lifetime of the body doing more damage than you’ll ever know. Much of the havoc actually starts around the roots of the root-canaled tooth. This is where the body sets up it first line of defense against a tooth that has died and is on the way to becoming necrotic.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GOOD ROOT CANAL.

What are Focal Infections?

They are called focal infections and they are found around the roots, especially the tips of every root-canaled tooth. These infections are almost always subclinical in nature which means the dentist or doctor doesn’t pick up any symptoms upon physical examination. Those who observe their bodies closely and are intuitive rarely miss the telltale signs that something has gone awry in their mouth.

Incidentally, many abscesses in the mouth are directly the result of infections that occur around the roots of root-canaled teeth. These often start out as a very small swelling, but they can easily evolve into painful inflammations requiring the use of antibiotics and the immediate extraction of the tooth. The swelling, pain and inflammation are simply the body’s response to the dead tooth. The older the root canal, the greater the likelihood that a full-blown infection will require urgent, if not emergent, care.

This unfortunate state of affairs is not the most serious aspect of root canals, however. The real caveat surrounding this extraordinarily harmful procedure are the FOCAL INFECTIONS which inevitably result in teeth which exhibit no symptoms, have no pain, and seem perfectly ‘healthy’.

Just what is a focal infection? Here you go from The Free Dictionary (by Farlex):

focal infection
n.
A bacterial infection localized in a specific part of the body, such as the tonsils, that may spread to another part of the body.
n.
the site or origin of an infectious process. Endodontically treated teeth have frequently been accused of being the source of septicemias….

This is where root canals really rear their ugly heads. However, it takes a very perceptive individual to recognize that ugly head for what it is before it takes an awesome toll on their health, even to the point of death.

What we have seen with root canals with over 25 years of close observation is that each individual possesses his/her own signature points, weaknesses if you will, which are targeted by these focal infections. In one person it may be their heart, another their thyroid, yet another it may be their brain or kidneys which are targeted. No matter what the target organ(s)/tissues(s), the particular organ or tissue or bodily location becomes the recipient (focus) of the infection that began in the mouth (most often a root-canaled tooth).

What ultimately can occur if this condition is allowed to proceed undiagnosed or unattended ranges anywhere from a heart attack or worse, cardiac arrest, to a brain attack or stroke. When the cerebrovascular accident is less severe it may only take the form of a TIA (transient ischemic attack) or mini-stroke. Nevertheless, you hopefully get the picture of how serious these focal infections can be.

After reviewing the thorough and painstaking work of Dr. Weston A. Price, it has become clear that many a heart attack which has killed its victim actually started in the tooth socket cavitation, the root-canaled tooth or the infected crowned tooth which went unnoticed or untreated for two or three or four decades. By removing the infected teeth of an individual who died of cardiovascular disease and implanting them under the skin of a rabbit, Dr. Price documented that the rabbit then succumbed to the same type of heart disease as the original human victim.

Dr. George Meinig, D.D.S. to the rescue

The Health Coach who is the author of this Root Canal coaching session was fortunate to study under Dr. George Meinig, DDS, FACD. With Dr. Meinig as our mentor for over ten years we were able to fully apprehend the catastrophic consequences to the health of those countries where root canals are performed in the greatest numbers. Clearly the incidence of the Alphabet Soup Diseases, Multi-Infection Syndromes and New Millennium Maladies have skyrocketed in those areas where root canals are prevalent. Dr. Meinig’s book Root Canal Cover-Up nicely details all the reasons why you ought to re-consider the dentist advice of root canal ‘therapy’.

There is no question that autoimmune disorders have become a predominant theme in the aforementioned groupings of syndromes, diseases and infections. Here’s why:
When the human body is subjected — day after day, month after month, year after year — to relentless, raging focal infections, completely under the radar, they take a HUGE toll on the individual’s immune system. So huge, as a matter of fact, that the immune system goes into a fritz. Call it auto-immune dysregulation, autoimmune disorder, autoimmune disease, or autoimmune syndrome; you know when you have it, because your quality of life is absolutely miserable.

So important is this connection to dental procedures/materials that we reflexively recommend all clients who have autoimmune type symptoms to check out their mouth very carefully. If they refuse to address those areas of obvious need, we can no longer guide them on the healing journeys so profound and fundamental is the origination of disease in the mouth.

The Health Coach has also had the good fortune of consulting with Dr George Meinig’s top two students and experts on the ongoing, epidemic health disaster known as root canal treatment. Both Dr. Christopher Hussar, DDS, DO of Reno, NE and Dr. Robert Kulasc, DDS of Mt Kisco, NY have made great contributions to this field of study and have written and spoken extensively on the scientific basis of the inherent risks associated with root canal treatment, as well as actual case studies which graphically illustrate the dangers to human health.

Some of the other unintended consequences of root canal treatment include periodontitis,bacteraemia and infective endocarditis. Each of these medical conditions have been documented through biomedical research published at the National Library of Medicine to have a causal relationship with root-canaled teeth, as seen at the hyperlinked abstracts. Feel free to make copies of these PubMed research papers and bring them to your dentist/endodontist for his review and serious contemplation.

A Root Canal in process showing the excavated roots

Root Canals: Are you putting a bullet in your mouth?

In closing let us say that of all the medical and dental operations which are regularly performed on the unsuspecting public, the root canal procedure is the most misrepresented, potentially injurious and underestimated in its repercussions to systemic health. No matter which tooth has been compromised beyond repair, we universally recommend that the tooth be extracted and the tooth socket be thoroughly cleaned out as per the protocols offered by Dr. Meinig in Root Canal Cover-Up.

In the final analysis it has been determined that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GOOD ROOT CANAL. They are all infected and only differ by the degree and outward signs of infection. Therefore, there can only be one solution which we will take up in our next dental coaching session: Root Canals: What is the best and only alternative?

With every good wish,
The Health Coach

Caveat to all Parents: Systemic health risks are the REAL concern with root canals, so everyone is well advised to be extra special careful not to subject our delicate and sensitive children to such a pernicious procedure as root canal treatment at such a tender age.

The Health Coach’s Personal Testimony:
Back in the mid ’90s, I consulted with an oral surgeon in South Florida about the best way to address a number of cavitation sites. An old root canal site was particularly challenging. We decided to re-open the site and completely clean it out. What we found was an inordinate amount of black, dead, necrotic bone where the roots of the tooth used to be. What happened?
When a tooth is root canaled, it dies and becomes very brittle lacking the resilience and flexibility of a living tooth. With year after year of continued chewing, the stresses can easily cause the delicate roots to crack. When this occurs the filling material – gutta-percha and all – seep into the jawbone forever compromising it based on the toxicity load of the mix of filling ingredients.
This is exactly what occurred in my case; and the surgeon was compelled to saw out little chunks of black, dead, necrotic bone so as to allow health bone to regenerate, which it did. He also put the little pieces of dead bone on a silver tray right in front of me for my focused consideration — Needless to say, it was the most important (and memorable) dental coaching session I ever had!
You can imagine that the post-surgical therapies and treatments were then much more creative and time-consuming than the surgery itself. Needless to say, it’s the last root canal ever performed in this mouth.

Warning to all who read this:
Many laboratory studies have been conducted on teeth and cavitation sites where root-canaled teeth once sat and the results have been alarming. There are strains of anaerobic bacteria which proliferate in these sites that have not been found anywhere else on earth. Not only that, but these same anaerobic bacteria have been found to produce toxins that are as detrimental to the human body as any that have ever been found in vivo. These same toxins have likewise never been found in any other environment on the planet – either living or inanimate – and are considered poisonous by toxicologists who have studied them.

Correlation between the teeth and their respective meridians:
As you may already know, each tooth sits on a meridian the correlation of which can be very revealing about the linkage between longstanding health complaints and imbalanced tooth sites (cavitation sites are notorious for reflexing to the respective body part). We found this Tooth Meridian Chart at Oasis Advanced Wellness to be particularly helpful. This just might be the only tool available for some of us to track down some of our more intractable ailments. All it takes is focus, intuition and self-observation.

Dr. George Meinig, a true American Health Hero:
Dr. George Meinig was a founding member of the American Association of Endodontics, the organization of dental specialists who perform root canal treatment. Therefore, you can imagine how profoundly and dramatically his life changed when he happened upon the conclusive research conducted by Dr. Weston Price. From that day forward, Dr. Meinig never offered traditional root canal treatment again.
In fact he spent the rest of his dental career treating the many patients to whom he had originally given root canals. He also spent much of his professional and personal time offering counsel and consultation to the many seriously ill individuals whose immune systems had been gravely affected by this procedure. He gave of himself tirelessly up until the day he died at 93 years old.
He was ostracized by his peer professionals, marginalized by the dental establishment and belittled by those who never even reviewed the hard science undergirding his rock solid refutation of root canal safety. Through it all, he remained stalwart in his crusade and unintimidated by anyone who attempted to undermine the evidence which he accumulated. In spite of any obstacles thrown before him or ridicule heaped upon him, he remained unusually cheerful, gracious and generous to the max.
Truly, he was a HERO of Global Health and Wellness.

Advice to those whose dentists are clueless:
Here again The Health Coach has two experiences to share which are quite instructive.
I. After having x-rays taken of my root-canaled tooth I asked the dentist what the shiny, narrow reflection was on the x-ray. The dentist replied casually and without hesitation: “Oh, that’s a broken piece of the instrument that the previous dentist used to pack in the filling material in the root of the tooth.”
I replied, “So is that standard operating procedure to leave the broken instrument in the tooth?!”
“Yes it is”, he responded. “After all, it just becomes part of the filling material.”
“Maybe we should just throw in the kitchen sink while we’re at it.” <——I didn’t really say this but wanted to.
II. A second experience brought me to another dentist (I’ve been fired by many of them over the years) where we again were reviewing my full mouth x-rays. I asked him what the obvious discoloration the size of a quarter around my root-canaled tooth was. He said it was nothing and not to worry. I persisted and asked again what he thought it might be. I left his office without an answer. A few days later my wife and I received a letter in the mail in which he terminated our dental relationship. A few days later I had the same x-rays reviewed by an oral surgeon who confirmed my fears that the discoloration was an obvious sign of long-term infection surrounding the entire root-canaled tooth. He recommended immediate surgery before it abscessed.

Sources:
Root Canal Cover-Up by Dr. George Meinig, DDS
The Weston A. Price Foundation

Endnotes:
[1] Pulp (tooth) explained further at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_(tooth))

[2] Dentin explained further at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dentin)

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