Focal Theory of Infection

[Guest guest]

Actually, I'll just post it. There's a reference at the end to an alternative material I'd like to keep in mind.http://www.healingdaily.com/exercise/root-canals.htmShould

you have root canals?

There are problems

with root canal therapy you should know about.

Most

of the information found here is based on Meinig's book "Root

Canal Cover-Up". Dr. Meinig is an authority on root

canals. He brings a most interesting perspective to the possible dangers

of root canal therapy: 50 years ago Dr. Meinig was one of the founders

of the American Association of Endodontists (root canal specialists).

So he has filled his share of root canals.

When he

wasn't filling root canals himself, Dr. Meinig was teaching the technique

to dentists across the United States at weekend clinics and seminars.

A few years ago, after having recently retired, Dr. Meinig decided to

read all 1100+ pages of the detailed research of Dr. Weston Price, (D.D.S),

a pioneer in the field of root canal therapy.

Dr. Weston

Price's careful, impeccable research took place over a 25 year period

during the early 1900's. Dr. Price published his work in 2 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 Dr. Price's

work that they appointed him their first Research Director.

Dr. Meinig

was shocked and startled by Dr. Price's published research. In Dr. Weston

Price's research was valid documentation of systemic illnesses resulting

from latent infections lingering in filled roots.

So exactly

what is the problem with root canal therapy?

Dr. Meinig

's book, which is based on the 25 years of research done by Dr. Weston

Price, discusses how root canals can cause BACTERIA to become entrenched

inside the structure of teeth and end up causing the largest number of

diseases ever traced to a single source.

According

to Dr. Meinig, a high percentage of chronic

degenerative diseases can originate from root canals. The most frequent

were circulatory and heart diseases.

The next most common diseases were those of the joints

and arthritis.

Again according

to Dr. Meinig, there was an unfortunate turn of events whereby very valuable

information was buried and covered up some 70 years ago by a small group

of autocratic doctors who just didn't believe - or couldn't grasp - the

"focal infection theory".

Root canals

and the focal infection theory

What is

the "focal infection" theory? The

"focal infection" theory states that germs from a central focal

infection - such as teeth roots, teeth, inflamed

gum tissues or perhaps tonsils, metastasize to the heart, the eyes,

the kidneys, lungs or other organs/tissues, establishing the same infection

in new areas.

Revolutionary

thinking in the early 1920's, this theory has been demonstrated and

proven many times over. However, today, both patients and doctors

have been "brain washed" into believing

that infections are less serious because we now have antibiotics.

That is not the case. In the case of root-filled teeth, the no-longer-living

tooth lacks a blood supply flowing to its interior. So circulating

antibiotics can not impact the bacteria living there because they

can not get at them.

In his

research, Dr. Price did hundreds of experiments, which

Dr. Meinig discusses in his book "Root

Canal Cover-Up". In one of those experiments, for example, Dr.

Price 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.

Dr. Meinig

claims that all root-filled teeth harbor some bacteria and/or other infective

agents. No matter what technique or material is used, the root-filling

shrinks microscopically. Another point is key: the bulk of the solid-appearing

teeth, called the "dentin", is not solid and actually consists

of miles of tiny "tubules".

In a healthy

tooth, those "tubules" transport a fluid which carries nourishment

to the inside of the tooth. To give you an idea, it is said that if the

tubules of a front tooth were stretched out, they would be 3 miles long...

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.

Microscopic

organisms hiding in this maze of "tubules" simply migrate into

the interior of the tooth and set up housekeeping. A filled root seems

to be a favorite place to start a new colony.

Another

thing we need to understand is that large, relatively harmless bacteria

common in the mouth, change and adapt to the new conditions. They shrink

in size to fit the cramped quarters and even learn how to survive on very

little food.

Those organisms

that need oxygen mutate and become able to survive without the presence

of oxygen. Though this process of adaptation, these formerly friendly/normal

organisms become pathogenic - capable of producing disease - and more

virulent and they produce much more potent toxins.

Today's

bacteriologists are confirming the discoveries of Dr. Price's team of

bacteriologists. They isolated in root canals the same strains of "streptococcus",

"staphylococcus" and "spirochetes".

Not everyone

who has ever had a root canal filled is made sick by it. It is believed

now that every root canal filling does leak and bacteria do invade its

structure. However the variable factor is the vitality

of the person's immune system. Some people in good health are able

to control the organisms which escape from their teeth into other areas

of their body.

It is believed

that this happens because their immune

system's white blood cells and other immune system fighters aren not

constantly compromised by other diseases.

In other words, their immune system is capable of preventing those new

colonies from taking hold in other tissues throughout the body. But over

time, most people with root canals do seem to develop some kinds of systemic

symptoms which they did not have before.

The "focal

infection" theory says that the bacteria can migrate out into surrounding

tissues where they can travel to other locations in the body via the bloodstream.

The new location can be any organ or tissue, and the new colony will be

a new source of infection in a body plagued by chronic or recurrent infections.

Root canal

or extraction?

Just extracting

the tooth is not enough when removal proves necessary. In his research,

Dr. Price found bacteria in the tissues and bone just adjacent to the

tooth's root. So what is now recommended is slow-speed drilling with a

burr, to remove 1 millimeter of the entire bony socket.

If the

tooth is dead and it is impossible to revive it, then it would be best

to have a root canal with a material called "Biocalex". "Biocalex"

eliminates many of the organisms and is far less likely to cause complications

in the short run. If this fails and one is seriously debilitated, it maybe

necessary to extract the tooth. Check with a biological dentist for this.

Many biological dentists have alternative methods, such as infra-red lasers,

which can save the tooth in about 1/4 of the cases.

I would

highly recommend the book "Root

Canal Cover-Up", by Dr. Meinig, if you are interested

in finding out more about the possible impact root canals can have on

one's health.