Interview on Root Canals

[Guest guest]

Effective Non-Drug Non-Surgical Solutions for Chronic Illnesses

Dr. ph Mercola

1443 W. Schaumburg Rd.

Schaumburg, IL 60194-4065

'phone 847-985-1777

ROOT CANALS POSE HEALTH THREAT

AN INTERVIEW WITH

GEORGE MEINIG, D.D.S.

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Dr. Meinig brings a most curious perspective to an expose of latent

dangers of root canal therapy - fifty years ago he was one of the

founders of the American Association of Endodontists (root canal

specialists)! So he's filled his share of root canals. And when he

wasn't filling canals himself, he was teaching the technique to

dentists across the country at weekend seminars and clinics. About

two years ago, having recently retired, he decided to read all 1174

pages of the detailed research of Dr. Weston Price, (D.D.S). Dr.

Meinig was startled and shocked. Here was valid documentation of

systemic illnesses resulting from latent infections lingering in

filled roots. He has since written a book, " Root Canal Cover-Up

EXPOSED - Many Illnesses Result " , and is devoting himself to radio,

TV, and personal appearances before groups in an attempt to blow the

whistle and alert the public.

MJ Please explain what the problem is with root canal therapy.

GM First, let me note that my book is based on Dr. Weston Price's

twenty-five years of careful, impeccable research. He led a 60-man

team of researchers whose findings - suppressed until now rank right

up there with the greatest medical discoveries of all time. This is

not the usual medical story of a prolonged search for the difficult-

to-find causative agent of some devastating disease. Rather, it's the

story of how a " cast of millions " (of bacteria) become entrenched

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

of diseases ever traced to a single source.

MJ What diseases? Can you give us some examples?

GM Yes, a high percentage of chronic degenerative diseases can

originate from root filled teeth. The most frequent were heart and

circulatory diseases and he found 16 different causative agents for

these. The next most common diseases were those of the joints,

arthritis and rheumatism. In third place - but almost tied for

second - were diseases of the brain and nervous system. After that,

any disease you can name might (and in some cases has) come from root

filled teeth.

Let me tell you about the research itself. Dr. Price undertook his

investigations in 1900. He continued until 1925, and published his

work in two 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 his work that they appointed Dr.

Price their first Research Director. His Advisory Board read like a

Who's Who in medicine and dentistry for that era. They represented

the fields of bacteriology, pathology, rheumatology, surgery,

chemistry, and cardiology.

At one point in his writings Dr. Price made this observation: " Dr.

Billings (M.D.), probably more than any other American

internist, is due credit for the early recognition of the importance

of streptococcal focal infections in systemic involvements. "

What's really unfortunate here is that very valuable information was

covered up and totally buried some 70 years ago by a minority group

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

focal infection theory.

MJ What is the " focal infection " theory?

GM This states that germs from a central focal infection - such as

teeth, teeth roots, inflamed gum tissues, or maybe tonsils -

metastasize to hearts, eyes, lungs, kidneys, or other organs, glands

and tissues, establishing new areas of the same infection. Hardly

theory any more, this has been proven and demonstrated many times

over. It's 100% accepted today. But it was revolutionary thinking

during World War I days, and the early 1920's!

Today, both patients and physicians have been " brain washed " to think

that infections are less serious because we now have antibiotics.

Well, yes and no. In the case of root-filled teeth, the no longer-

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

antibiotics don't faze the bacteria living there because they can't

get at them.

MJ You're assuming that ALL root-filled teeth harbor bacteria and/or

other infective agents?

GM Yes. No matter what material or technique is used - and this is

just as true today - the root filling shrinks minutely, perhaps

microscopically. Further and this is key - the bulk of solid

appearing teeth, called the dentin, actually consists of miles of

tiny tubules. Microscopic organisms lurking in the maze of tubules

simply migrate into the interior of the tooth and set up

housekeeping. A filled root seems to be a favorite spot to start a

new colony.

One of the things that makes this difficult to understand is that

large, relatively harmless bacteria common to the mouth, change and

adapt to new conditions. They shrink in size to fit the cramped

quarters and even learn how to exist (and thrive!) on very little

food. Those that need oxygen mutate and become able to get along

without it. In the process of adaptation these formerly

friendly " normal " organisms become pathogenic (capable of producing

disease) and more virulent (stronger) and they produce much more

potent toxins.

Today's bacteriologists are confirming the discoveries of the Price

team of bacteriologists. Both isolated in root canals the same

strains of streptococcus, staphylococcus and spirochetes.

MJ Is everyone who has ever had a root canal filled made ill by it?

GM No. We believe now that every root canal filling does leak and

bacteria do invade the structure. But the variable factor is the

strength of the person's immune system. Some healthy people are able

to control the germs that escape from their teeth into other areas of

the body. We think this happens because their immune system

lymphocytes (white blood cells) and other disease fighters aren't

constantly compromised by other ailments. In other words, they are

able to prevent those new colonies from taking hold in other tissues

throughout the body. But over time, most people with root filled

teeth do seem to develop some kinds of systemic symptoms they didn't

have before.

MJ It's really difficult to grasp that bacteria are imbedded deep in

the structure of seemingly-hard, solid looking teeth.

GM I know. Physicians and dentists have that same problem, too. You

really have to visualize the tooth structure - all of those

microscopic tubules running through the dentin. In a healthy tooth,

those tubules transport a fluid that carries nourishment to the

inside. For perspective, if the tubules of a front single-root tooth,

were stretched out on the ground they'd stretch for three miles!

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. The bacteria can migrate

out into surrounding tissue where they can " hitch hike " to other

locations in the body via the bloodstream. The new location can be

any organ or gland or tissue, and the new colony will be the next

focus of infection in a body plagued by recurrent or chronic

infections.

All of the " building up " done to try to enhance the patient's ability

to fight infections - to strengthen their immune system - is only a

holding action. Many patients won't be well until the source of

infection - the root canal tooth - is removed.

MJ I don't doubt what you're saying, but can you tell us more about

how Dr. Price could be sure that arthritis or other systemic

conditions and illnesses really originated in the teeth - or in a

single tooth?

GM Yes. Many investigations start with the researcher just being

curious about something - and then being scientifically careful

enough to discover an answer, and then prove it's so, many times

over. Dr. Price's first case is very well documented. He 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!

Further, once the tooth was removed the patient's arthritis improved

dramatically. This clearly suggested that the presence of the

infected tooth was a causative agent for both that patient's and the

rabbit's - arthritis.

[Editor's Note - Here's the story of that first patient from Dr.

Meinig's book: " (Dr. Price) had a sense that, even when (root canal

therapy) appeared successful, teeth containing root fillings remained

infected. That thought kept prying on his mind, haunting him each

time a patient consulted him for relief from some severe debilitating

disease for which the medical profession could find no answer. Then

one day while treating a woman who had been confined to a wheelchair

for six years from severe arthritis, he recalled how bacterial

cultures were taken from patients who were ill and then inoculated

into animals in an effort to reproduce the disease and test the

effectiveness of drugs on the disease.

With this thought in mind, although her (root filled) tooth looked

fine, he advised this arthritic patient, to have it extracted. He

told her he was going to find out what it was about this root filled

tooth that was responsible for her suffering. " All dentists know that

sometimes arthritis and other illnesses clear up if bad teeth are

extracted. However, in this case, all of her teeth appeared in

satisfactory condition and the one containing this rootcanal filling

showed no evidence or symptoms of infection. Besides, it looked

normal on x-ray pictures.

" Immediately after Dr. Price extracted the tooth he dismissed the

patient and embedded her tooth under the skin of a rabbit. In two

days the rabbit developed the same kind of crippling arthritis as the

patient - and in ten days it died.

" ..The patient made a successful recovery after the tooth's removal!

She could then walk without a cane and could even do fine needlework

again. That success led Dr. Price to advise other patients, afflicted

with a wide variety of treatment defying illnesses, to have any root

filled teeth out. " ]

In the years that followed, he repeated this procedure many hundreds

of times. He later implanted only a portion of the tooth to see if

that produced the same results. It did. He then dried the tooth,

ground it into powder and injected a tiny bit into several rabbits.

Same results, this time producing the same symptoms in multiple

animals.

Dr. Price eventually grew cultures of the bacteria and injected them

into the animals. Then he went a step further. He put the solution

containing the bacteria through a filter small enough to catch the

bacteria. So when he injected the resulting liquid it was free of any

infecting bacteria. Did the test animals develop the illness? Yes.

The only explanation was that the liquid had to contain toxins from

the bacteria, and the toxins were also capable of causing disease.

Dr. Price became curious about which was the more potent infective

agent, the bacteria or the toxin. He repeated that last experiment,

injecting half the animals with the toxin-containing liquid and half

of them with the bacteria from the filter. Both groups became ill,

but the group injected with the toxins got sicker and died sooner

than the bacteria injected animals.

MJ That's amazing. Did the rabbits always develop the same disease

the patient had?

GM Mostly, yes. If the patient had heart disease the rabbit got heart

disease. If the patient had kidney disease the rabbit got kidney

disease, and so on. Only occasionally did a rabbit develop a

different disease - and then the pathology would be quite similar, in

a different location.

MJ If extraction proves necessary for anyone reading this, do you

want to summarize what's special about the extraction technique?

GM Just pulling the tooth is not enough when removal proves

necessary. Dr. Price found bacteria in the tissues and bone just

adjacent to the tooth's root. So we now recommend slow-speed drilling

with a burr, to remove one millimeter of the entire bony socket. The

purpose is to remove the periodontal ligament (which is always

infected with toxins produced by streptococcus bacteria living in the

dentin tubules) and the first millimeter of bone that lines the

socket (which is usually infected).

There's a whole protocol involved, including irrigating with sterile

saline to assure removal of the contaminated bone chips, and treating

the socket to stimulate and encourage infection-free healing. I

describe the procedure in detail, step by step, in my book [pages 185

and 186].

MJ Perhaps we should back up and talk about oral health - to PREVENT

needing an extraction. Caries or inflamed gums seem much more common

than root canals. Do they pose any threat?

GM Yes, they absolutely do. But let me point out that we can't talk

about oral health apart from total health. The problem is that

patients and dentists alike haven't come around to seeing that dental

caries reflect systemic - meaning " whole body " - illness. Dentists

have learned to restore teeth so expertly that both they and their

patients have come to regard tooth decay as a trivial matter. It

isn't.

Small cavities too often become big cavities. Big cavities too often

lead to further destruction and the eventual need for root canal

treatment.

MJ Then talk to us about prevention.

GM The only scientific way to prevent tooth decay is through diet and

nutrition. Dr. Ralph Steinman did some outstanding, landmark research

at Loma University. He injected a glucose solution into mice -

into their bodies, so the glucose didn't even touch their teeth. Then

he observed the teeth for any changes. What he found was truly

astonishing. The glucose reversed the normal flow of fluid in the

dentin tubules, resulting in all of the test animals developing

severe tooth decay! Dr. Steinman demonstrated dramatically what I

said a minute ago: Dental caries reflect systemic illness.

Let's take a closer look to see how this might happen. Once a tooth

gets infected and the cavity gets into the nerve and blood vessels,

bacteria find their way into those tiny tubules of the dentin. Then

no matter what we do by way of treatment, we're never going to

completely eradicate the bacteria hiding in the miles of tubules. In

time the bacteria can migrate through lateral canals into the

surrounding bony socket that supports the tooth. Now the host not

only has a cavity in a tooth, plus an underlying infection of

supporting tissue to deal with, but the bacteria also exude potent

systemic toxins. These toxins circulate throughout the body

triggering activity by the immune system - and probably causing the

host to feel less well. This host response can vary from just

dragging around and feeling less energetic, to overt illness - of

almost any kind. Certainly, such a person will be more vulnerable to

whatever " bugs " are going around, because his/her body is already

under constant challenge and the immune system continues to

be " turned on " by either the infective agent or its toxins - or both.

MJ What a fascinating concept. Can you tell us more about the

protective nutrition you mentioned?

GM Yes. Dr. Price traveled all over the world doing his research on

primitive peoples who still lived in their native ways. He found

fourteen cultural pockets scattered all over the globe where the

natives had no access to " civilization " - and ate no refined foods.

Dr. Price studied their diets carefully. He found they varied

greatly, but the one thing they had in common was that they ate

whole, unrefined foods. With absolutely no access to tooth brushes,

floss, fluoridated water or tooth paste, the primitive peoples

studied were almost 100% free of tooth decay. Further - and not

unrelated - they were also almost 100% free of all the degenerative

diseases we suffer - problems with the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver,

joints, skin (allergies), and the whole gamut of illnesses that

plague Mankind. No one food proved to be magic as a preventive food.

I believe we can thrive best by eating a wide variety of whole foods.

MJ Amazing. So by " diet and nutrition " for oral (and total) health

you meant eating a pretty basic diet of whole foods?

GM Exactly. And no sugar or white flour. These are (and always have

been) the first culprits. Tragically, when the primitives were

introduced to sugar and white flour their superior level of health

deteriorated rapidly. This has been demonstrated time and again.

During the last sixty or more years we have added in increasing

amounts, highly refined and fabricated cereals and boxed mixes of all

kinds, soft drinks, refined vegetable oils and a whole host of other

foodless " foods " . It is also during those same years that we as a

nation have installed more and more root canal fillings - and

degenerative diseases have become rampant. I believe - and Dr. Price

certainly proved to my satisfaction - that these simultaneous factors

are NOT coincidences.

MJ I certainly understand what you are saying. But I'm still a little

shocked to talk with a dentist who doesn't stress oral hygiene.

GM Well, I'm not against oral hygiene. Of course, hygiene practices

are preventive, and help minimize the destructive effect of

our " civilized " , refined diet. But the real issue is still diet. The

natives Dr. Price tracked down and studied weren't free of cavities,

inflamed gums, and degenerative diseases because they had better

tooth brushes!

It's so easy to lose sight of the significance of what Dr. Price

discovered. We tend to sweep it under the rug - we'd actually prefer

to hear that if we would just brush better, longer, or more often, we

too could be free of dental problems.

Certainly, part of the purpose of my book is to stimulate dental

research into finding a way to sterilize dentin tubules. Only then

can dentists really learn to save teeth for a lifetime. But the

bottom line remains: A primitive diet of whole unrefined foods is the

only thing that has been found to actually prevent both tooth decay

and degenerative diseases.

To order " Root Canal Cover-Up EXPOSED - Many Illnesses Result " , by

Dr. Meinig, send your check or money order (U.S. funds) for $19.95 +

$2.00 shipping ($2.50 to Canada, $3.00 to other countries),

California residents add $1.45 for state sales tax. Send to Bion

Publishing, 323 E. Matilija 110-151, Ojai, CA 93023.

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