The Story #7: Tooth Root Connection II
December 20, 2004 found me back at the endodontist’s with an inflamed lower right molar, #31. I first called Dr. Park’s office to see if I could get an appointment to just have the tooth extracted. The office staff told me that the first available emergency appointment was two to three weeks out, and I would only be seen with a referral from an endodontist requesting the extraction. Persistence on my part to find an oral surgeon who would see me without a referral only led to more administrative staff antagonism. I finally managed to get an emergency appointment with Dr. Dollard, but only if I drove all the way to Manassas to his private practice with Dr. Michael Piccinino.
The impacted molar had four canals that needed to be cleaned and filled. It seemed like one of the canals was a bottomless pit. Dr. Dollard kept cleaning it with an instrument that looked like a miniature pipe cleaner, but each time he went back in, there was a little crunch sound revealing a deeper infection. I guess once he got to a certain depth, he figured that was deep enough, and sealed the canal. But I had my doubts. Even with all the Novocain, I could feel a definitive bottoming out when his cleaning instrument reached the root tip on the other three canals — like when you’re digging and you hit rock. This last canal, however, felt more like if you pushed a little harder on the snake you were using to clear the drain, you could probably get it to push through yet another clog.
My perception proved accurate. Two days after a second appointment with Dr. Dollard to fill the root canal, I felt molar #31crunch further into my gum. The pressure on the nerve was causing me considerable pain. I called and was told to go to Dollard’s Manassas office the next day. On January 6, 2005, I was back in Dollard’s office with Dr. Michael Piccinino because Dr. Dollard was on vacation. I tried to convey to Dr. Piccinino that I was very ill with systemic infection and inflammation that was probably affecting my gum tissue, and what I really wanted was a referral to have the tooth extracted. I even brought him a copy of test results documenting the infection and inflammation. Dr. Piccinino wasn’t hearing any of it. He insisted that my problem was just a malocclusion, and all I needed was a bite adjustment. He never even glanced at the medical test paperwork I handed him. Instead, he placed the paperwork on the counter, and then proceeded to numb the area of the root canalled tooth and began smoothing the tooth surface with his drill.
The next day, still in pain, I was able to convince a staff assistant at The Reston Dental Arts Center to get me an appointment with an oral surgeon to have the tooth extracted. On January 10, 2005, Dr. Daniel Theberge extracted the December 2004 root canalled lower right molar and performed an alveoloplasty, removing the bony protrusion below the site of the June 2004 molar extractions. Dr. Theberge said he couldn’t understand why dentists insist on sending their patients to endodontists first because in very little time root canals make teeth brittle and difficult to extract. Extractions take longer because root canalled teeth break up into little pieces during the extraction process.
Dr. Theberge took one look at the panoramic x-ray I brought from my dentist’s office and said it was obvious that the root canalled tooth was abscessed and sitting in a pool of infection. He said he didn’t understand why the dentist didn’t detect this outright. When I later repeated the oral surgeon’s comment to my new dentist, Dr. Thomas Eichler, one of Washingtonian magazine’s top area dentists, Dr. Eichler said that wasn’t a fair comment for the oral surgeon to make. He said detecting infection may be clear for someone who sees this type of x-ray regularly, but general dentists don’t.
Dr. Mark Breiner in Whole-Body Dentistry, Dr. George Meinig in Root Canal Cover-Up and a number of other medical professionals have written about the connection of dental caries to whole-body or systemic illness. They claim root canals and cavitations are nearly as lethal as heavy metal toxicity. In root canals, the pulpal tissue in the root of the tooth is removed and the hollow core is then sterilized and sealed. Conventional wisdom assumed that completely sterilizing and sealing the canal quarantined the area from further decay or infection. This theory, however, completely ignores the porous property of teeth.
Under the enamel and cementum is dentin, which makes up the bulk of the solid, impenetrable appearing tooth. Dentin actually consists of millions of microscopic tubules, which transport nutrients from the canal out to the enamel. After a root canal, the canal is partially sealed so the area no longer benefits from the cleansing and oxygenating effect of the blood supply flowing through the tooth. The microscopic bacteria left in the dentinal tubules gets cut off from the oxygen and blood supply, changes from aerobic to anaerobic and begins to give off toxins.
Contrary to popular belief, with time the root filling shrinks minutely, microscopically — enough to let the bacteria present in the bloodstream enter the tooth. Circulating antibiotics can’t reach the bacteria in the dentinal tubules. Hence, the bacteria can migrate out into surrounding tissue where the bloodstream transports the pathogens to any organ or gland or tissue. The new colony will be the next focus of infection in a body plagued by recurrent or chronic infections.
A strong immune system can wall off or quarantine the canal area affected by these toxins. This immune response shows up on X-ray as a more radiolucent area indicating an abscess. A not so strong immune system cannot quarantine these bacteria, and relatively harmless bacteria common to the mouth become pathogenic (capable of producing disease) and toxic.
These toxins circulate throughout the body triggering activity by the immune system. This host response can vary from just dragging around and feeling less energetic, to overt illness of almost any kind. Because the body is under constant challenge by the infective agent or its toxins or both, it will be more vulnerable to whatever “bugs” are going around.
The most frequent repercussions from root canal therapy are heart and circulatory diseases. The next most common diseases are those of the joints, arthritis and rheumatism. In third place – but close to second – are diseases of the brain and nervous system. After that, any disease you can name might come from root filled teeth.
Chronic, low-level heavy metal poisoning is present in patients with chronic degenerative diseases, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, allergies, hypertension, and autoimmune disease. Vapor from fillings can travel through the upper nasal cavity directly into the brain, including the hypothalamus region which regulates the heart rate, respiration and blood pressure. It can also travel into the lungs where it is absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to tissues throughout the body- especially the kidneys where it accumulates rapidly.
Symptoms associated with low-level mercury poisoning are commonly attributed to aging and include inexplicable fatigue, loss of memory, inability to concentrate, moodiness, anxiety, lack of confidence and severe depression.
Symptoms from mercury toxicity fall into several broad categories further broken down into body systems.
• Gastrointestinal effects include abdominal cramps, constipation or diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems including colitis.
• Systemic effects include cardiovascular disturbances such as irregular heartbeat (tachycardia, bradycardia), feeble and irregular pulse, chest pain or pressure, blood pressure changes.
• Neurological disturbances include chronic headaches, dizziness, ringing in the ears.
• Respiratory effects include persistent cough, emphysema, shallow and irregular respiration.
• Immunological effects include allergies, asthma, rhinitis, sinusitis, lymphadenopathy, especially cervical.
• Endocrine effects include subnormal temperature, cold, clammy skin especially the hands and feet, excessive perspiration.
• Oral cavity disorders include metallic taste, foul breath, excessive salivation, tissue pigmentation, burning sensation in mouth or throat, ulceration of gingiva, palate, tongue, leukoplakia (white patches), loose teeth and bone loss.
• Psychological disorders include irritability, nervousness, shyness, attention deficit, anxiety, insomnia, depression, fits of anger, lack of self control, decline of intellect, loss of self confidence, memory loss.
• Other effects include anemia, joint pain, edema, anorexia, hypoxia (lack of oxygen), dim vision, muscle weakness.
Clues to heavy metal toxicity include:
• Candidiasis, an overgrowth of Candida albicans, a normally occurring gastrointestinal fungus.
• Hypothyroidism – basal temperature does not increase with thyroid medication.
• Chiropractic adjustments in the neck and other vertebrae don’t “hold”. (Root canals or a malocclusion can also cause vertebral weakness.)
Often accurate medical diagnosis cannot be reached, or treatment will be ineffective, until the symptoms caused by metals and other problems in the mouth are cleared up. The five metals in amalgam fillings are mercury, copper, tin, zinc and silver. When placed in saliva, these metals generate battery-like electrical currents which interfere with proper cell function. These electrical currents can cause such seemingly unrelated symptoms as leg or gastric pain through their impact on the nervous system.
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