Focal infections are nowadays considered a very proven theory. One infection in one area of the body can infect another tissue or organ. This also happens with cancer, especially pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Weston Price (1870-1948) was a dentist and a leader in the theory that bacteria of the mouth can spread to other organs. Price was the founder of Research Institute of the National Dental Association which later became the American Dentist Association.
From Wikipedia:
Basically, his studies were squashed because people disbelieved the focal infection theory. Upon discovery of his literature, some modern day PhD's have looked at the link between root canals and ill health claiming that the dead dentin has miles of microtubes where which mutated anerobic (sp?) bacteria can hide, living on very little food, requiring no oxygen... I think of it like the mole people of bacteria. These bacteria are inert to antibacterial treatments for a couple reasons speculated: (1) because they are in such a tight place, circulating antibiotics can't get to it, and/or (2) the strains of bacteria are resistant to antibiotics.Endodontics and focal infection
Price performed extensive research on pulpless and endodontically treated teeth in support of the theory of focal infection, which at that time held that systemic conditions including complexion, intestinal disorders, anemia among others could be explained by infections in the mouth. This theory also held that infected teeth should therefore be treated by dental extraction, rather than undergo root canals, to limit the risk of more general illness. His research, based on case reports and animal studies performed on rabbits, claimed to show dramatic improvements after the extraction of teeth with non-vital pulps. Price's research fit into a wider body of testimonials in the dental literature of the 1920s, which contributed to the widespread acceptance of the practice of extracting, rather than endodontically treating, infected teeth[20] to the point that despite contentions in 1927 regarding a "faulty bacterial technique" in Price's later 1925 "Dental Infections and related Degenerative Diseases" work[21], Dental Infections, Oral and Systemic was used as a reference in textbooks and diagnosis guides clear into the early to mid 1930s.[22][23]
By the 1930s, the theory of focal infection began to be reexamined, and new research shed doubt on the results of previous studies. A 1935 Journal of the Canadian Dental Association article author would call Price radical while citing his comment in Dental Infections, Oral and Systemic of "continually seeing patients suffering more from the inconvenience and difficulties of mastication and nourishment than they did from the lesions from which their physician or dentist had sought to give them relief" as an example of one of 'the authorities that emphasize my contentions for conservatism' with regards to tooth extraction [24] and one researcher in 1940 noted "practically every investigation dealing with the pulpless teeth made prior to 1936 is invalid in the light of recent studies" and that the research of Price and others suffered from technical limitations and questionable interpretations of the garnered results.[25]
Three years after Price died a special review issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association confirmed the shift of standard of care from extraction back to endodontical dentistry.[26] In terms of more modern research, Price's studies lacked proper control groups, used excessive doses of bacteria, and had bacterial contamination during teeth extraction, leading to experimental biases.[20]
The bacteria just sits there feeding on whatever it can find, releasing it's little toxic waste, and because fillings aren't perfect, it can get out where the filling has shrunk. The bacteria are then suspected to spread to other organs, causing damage in the closest pathways to them. Root canals have been analyzed and found to contain many strains of bacteria from all areas of disease. Now, this is where I draw the line... I don't believe teeth to be the leading cause of every single disease just because every single disease you've had is in your tooth. That's ridiculous.
I have heard some news sources talking about the link between breast cancer and root canals, too. http://naturaldentis...-breast-cancer/
It's talked a little bit on these forums: http://www.longecity...-doing-nothing/ But the guy is basically ignored. He's basically woried that if he gets his teeth extracted and is have to fed powder, he will lose his memory like rats did in this study: http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pubmed/9062693 Haha, I always get a kick out of rats running into walls or around in circles.
From The Root Canal Cover Up: http://educate-yours...up02apr04.shtml
Dr. Price suspected that these infections arose from the teeth. He decided to implant an extracted root-filled tooth under the skin of an animal. He felt that if bacteria were present and carrying illness, their presence in a tooth might offer the same kind of proof physicians found when they injected the bacterial culture to produce disease in an animal. That is exactly what took place. He found that by implanting the root-filled tooth, the disease of the patient was transferred to animals. Whatever disease the patient had, the animal with the extracted tooth under its skin developed the same disease as the patient.
In other words, if the patient had heart disease, the animal developed heart disease. If he had kidney trouble, disease of the kidney was transferred to the animal. If he had a problem in his joints, the animals' joints became similarly involved. The principle held true for the whole spectrum of human ailments. Whatever the disease, the animal would develop that of the patient.
If anyone's concerned why I'm asking, it's that I got a cavity taking up half my tooth, opening up the back of the tooth and down past the gum line. I thought fillings were a lot more than they are... apparently only $100 or so. Anyhow, I was told I might need a root canal. There is no pain in that specific tooth usually, but there is when I pick it or press down inside. I'd rather get a filling, since there's unlikely an abscess.
What you think?
Edited by devinthayer, 14 July 2011 - 06:32 PM.
