Why You Want to Avoid Root Canals!
Why and How to Say No to an Unnecessary Root Canal Procedure
By Dr. Lina Garcia
One of the fundamental understandings that supports holistic, biological dentistry is that the dental procedures and materials used in them can affect your whole body, not just your teeth.
In the case of a root canal procedure, it can lead to a number of chronic health problems and even degenerative diseases. Unfortunately, it is very rare for someone in need of dental care to be aware of this.
Although you may be surprised to read this view of root canals, any time the procedure is done there is a real possibility it can endanger your overall health because of the infection and toxicity that can develop in your tooth after the root canal is performed.
The connection between a root canal treated tooth and disease in another area of your body is one the majority of health-care practitioners and their patients are simply unaware of.
The lack of awareness of this connection is puzzling when you consider that in conventional dentistry medicine there is an appreciation of research that has identified a connection between periodontal disease and other health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, respiratory diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis, and difficulties during pregnancy.
Periodontal disease is the general label used to describe chronic infection and/or inflammation of the gums and the supporting structures of the teeth. The American Academy of Periodontology actively seeks to educate the public about research that supports what perceptive dentists inevitably recognize: “Infections in the mouth can play havoc elsewhere in the body.”
Periodontal Disease: A Risk Factor for a Root Canal
Periodontal disease has been identified as a potential risk factor for many systemic diseases. However, it is not well appreciated that microbes surrounding a periodontally involved tooth can invade it from the apex and damage or kill it.
When this happens, a conventional dentist will recommend a root canal procedure. Tragically, most conventional dental and medical establishments inexplicably disregard the connection between oral microbes associated with root canals and systemic disease.
So, every year, millions of Americans undergo at least one root canal procedure with no awareness of the risk involved to their overall health. The root canal procedure is typically done instead of extracting the diseased, dying, or sometimes already dead tooth.
Root canals have been, and continue to be, a conventional, or “standard of care,” procedure done by a dentist or an endodontist. (An endodontist is a dentist who specializes in doing a root canal procedure, which is also called endodontic therapy.)
The root canal procedure is endorsed by the dental establishment as the preferred alternative to extraction. It is a big part of the business of dentistry. Give people what they want — and who wants to lose a tooth? So conventional dentistry offers a procedure that allows patients to keep a problem tooth while conveying confidence there are no risks involved.
But, unfortunately, there are risks.And what all too many dental practitioners don’t realize is that a root canal treated tooth can be a direct cause of numerous degenerative diseases.
Many Diseases Can Be Related to Root-Canal-Treated Teeth
If you have at least one root canal treated tooth, acting upon the understanding that it can be damaging to your health may help you realize freedom from one of the diseases or ailments listed in the table below.
Arthritis Appendicitis Endocarditis and myocarditis (heart inflammation) Kidney, liver, and gallbladder problems Meningitis Anemia Hardening of the arteries Nervous system breakdowns Pneumonia Heart lesions Eye infections Cancer
Many people suffer from diseases or ailments that modern medicine says are ofunknown cause. Well, the reality is that root canals are a seriously overlooked cause of many diseases.
More and more holistic-minded dentists, physicians and other practitioners are beginning to realize that many previously “incurable” diseases and ailments, which have no conventionally recognized cause, can sometimes be radically improved or completely resolved by extracting a root-canal tooth (or teeth) and properly cleaning out the tooth socket(s).
A Root Canal Will Leave Dead Tissue in Your Body
On the surface, having a root canal procedure instead of extracting a tooth is very appealing. A tooth is obviously an important part of your body that you want to keep if at all possible. But it’s more important for you to see your health in a holistic way, so you can avoid losing much more than your tooth It’s silly for us to think of ourselves as a collection of body parts that function independently of each other.
Seeing your health in a holistic way leads to understanding that each and every, part of your body can have an influence on the whole. In cases of intense pain, it may be thought of as a “mercy killing,” but having a root canal can definitely be an effective way to eliminate the pain — kill the tooth and you kill the pain.
The pain is gone because the nerves are gone. However, a much more accurate, no-nonsense way of describing the end result of a root canal is this: It doesn’t “save” the life of the tooth, but it does keep enough of the tooth’s structure intact so that the crowned chewing surface will be functional, and you keep the aesthetic value of the tooth.
So there you are — you are now left with a functional but dead tooth in your mouth that looks good when you smile. But think about this for a moment. Doesn’t it seem unhealthy, and even strange, to leave a dead tooth in your mouth? If any another organ in your body, like your appendix, were dead, it would have to be removed or else very aggressive strains of microbes that nature uses to decompose dead tissue would set in and threaten your life! And something similar happens with a dead tooth, whether it is killed from infection, trauma or the root-canal procedure.
After a root canal is done, the dead tooth, not sometimes, but always becomes an environment conducive to harboring chronic infection and toxicity. Because there is no reliable way, practically speaking, to completely sterilize a root canal treated tooth, (while it is still in a patient’s mouth), it will be a source of infection for the whole body until it is extracted and the tooth socket is cleaned.
How to Avoid the Root Canal Procedure That You Might Not Even Need
One of my biggest challenges as a Biological Dentist is when a patient cries with regret for agreeing to have a root canal procedure done to a tooth or teeth – a procedure they neither needed nor understood from the perspective of whole body health. Like any part of the body, a tooth can be inflamed, painful, or simply sensitive. If you go to a dentist they will quite often advise you to have a root canal.
But not so fast! Let’s learn and make a wise decision. The table below lists several reasons a tooth can be sensitive or painful but please understand that it there is not enough space in this article to more fully elaborate. The best way to evaluate your specific pain would be with a qualified dental professional.
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