Root Canal: Dangerous Or Just Misunderstood?

What Is a Root Canal?

Root canals are recommended for dental cavities that have progressed into the root of the teeth. The treatment of such cavities requires that all the infected pulp inside of the teeth be removed and cleaned, before the dental filling materials are injected into the tooth.

This allows the patient to keep the tooth, although the living tissue inside of the tooth is replaced, and the tooth is considered dead.

Is a Root Canal Safe?

This is where things start to get confusing, and it really depends on who you ask.

On the one hand, the American Association of Endodontists states that there is no evidence that root canals could be linked to cancer or any other inflammatory diseases. On the other hand, some scientific evidence shows there could be a potential for some pretty serious problems.

So Who Is Right? Let’s look at the data.

One study tested the effectiveness of root canal cleaning procedures and found endotoxins and pathogenic bacteria in 100% of root canals. The cleaning procedures can clear up to 44% of these bacteria, but the bacteria always persist.

The theory is that this could lead to long term problems, including some pretty serious ones. In fact, there are five ways that a root canal can lead to problems, including:

• Infection inside or outside of the root canals
• Extruded root canal filling causing an immune response
• Accumulation of cholesterol crystals that irritate the tissues
• Cystic lesion where the root canal is done
• Scar tissue healing of the root canal site

Even after the root canal procedure is long over, it appears that bacteria can (and often does) remain. This can logically lead to infections and other problems, and antibiotics are often given if needed.

However, while antibiotic use presents its own side effects, one study has shown that antibiotic use does not significantly reduce pain and swelling. Overall, there is no strong evidence suggesting that antibiotics really help with root canal infections.

The Problem with Lingering Bacteria

The bacteria (again, present in 100% of all root canals) can stimulate inflammatory molecules such as Interleukin-1beta and TNF-alpha, thereby raising inflammation throughout the body.

In severe cases, this can cause fever, malaise, and abscess or cellulitis in the head and neck area that may even require hospitalization.

Even without major complications, the bacterial toxins and inflammation can lead to seemingly unrelated health problems, as Dr. Weston A. Price discovered.

Weston A. Price on Root Canals

Dr. Price, a dentist known for his work on the relationship between nutrition and dental health (and overall health), was able to show that root canals can cause chronic diseases of inflammation by experimenting on rabbits.

Here’s what he did:

He conducted a series of experiments on rabbits, using extracted teeth from people with various health problems. His research found that rabbits would develop the condition that the person with the tooth had.

In other words: when using a tooth from a person with heart attacks and arthritis, the rabbit implanted with the root canal tooth would develop heart attacks and arthritis within a few weeks.

Back to the Bacteria

The bacteria that are found inside of root canals include groups of bacteria called Fusobacterium, Parvimonas, Prevotella, Porphyromonas, Dialister, Streptococcus, and Treponema.

Many of these bacteria are naturally present in the mouth, but they only become a problem when we are infected with them. When they grow in the root canal, the anaerobic conditions inside the root canal can cause these bacteria to become more dangerous. In addition, the ecosystem of these bacteria can make them even more dangerous.

These bacteria, in the context of periodontal infections, are linked to many chronic inflammatory diseases:

• The bacteria Fusobacterium, Porphyromonas, and Treponema are linked to atherosclerosis.
• The bacteria Porphyromonas is linked to Alzheimer’s disease through its ability to create inflammation in the body.

Porphyromonas, Treponema, and Tannerella are linked to poor blood sugar control and diabetes.Because these bacteria are transmissible, it explains why the exact same diseases could be transmitted from humans to rabbits by tooth transplantation in Dr. Price’s experiments.

Pros and Cons of Getting a Root Canal

Unfortunately, when a tooth has progressed to the point of needing a root canal, there aren’t any really great options. And even within the dental community, the recommendations vary widely. As this article explains:

Dentists who speak out against the safety of root canals bring up 3 main concerns:

• There is no way to completely remove all the dead tissue from the tooth
• There is no way to sterilize the tooth, thus leaving bacteria in the tooth
• The materials used to fill the hollowed out tooth leak and cause problems “downstream”

Those in the profession who claim that root canals are safe claim:

• Enough of the tissue is removed
• The body’s immune system can better get on top of any existing infection
• There are improved substances to fill the tooth
• There are no other suitable options
• Alternatives to Root Canal Treatment

What is the best option?

Some holistic dentists suggest that if the dental cavities are deep, the tooth should be extracted with the periodontal ligament removed to prevent further infections. Of course, this leaves a person without a tooth, though there are now several options if a tooth has been removed, such as:

Dental Implants

The tooth with cavity is removed and replaced with a metal implant. It still remains controversial whether the implantation of metal to replace the tooth can cause problems as this can raise the levels of such metals in the body and cause an immune response.

Dental Bridge

This may be a safer option than dental implants since the metal is not implanted into the gums in the same way.

Partial Denture

A removable denture to replace the extracted tooth is the least invasive option.