QuakWatch Price article

[Guest guest]

This QuakWatch article came up in a discussion about Price

Does anyone know if there is a rebuttal online somewhere? QuakWatch is

usually pretty well respected and for someone who has not read Price this

seems pretty damning.

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http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/holisticdent.html

(first 3 paragraphs about Price)

Price made a whirlwind tour of primitive areas, examined the natives

superficially, and jumped to simplistic conclusions. While extolling their

health, he ignored their short life expectancy and high rates of infant

mortality, endemic diseases, and malnutrition. While praising their diets

for not producing cavities, he ignored the fact that malnourished people

don't usually get many cavities.

Price knew that when primitive people were exposed to " modern "

civilization they developed dental trouble and higher rates of various

diseases, but he failed to realize why. Most were used to " feast or

famine " eating. When large amounts of sweets were suddenly made available,

they overindulged. Ignorant of the value of balancing their diets, they

also ingested too much fatty and salty food. Their problems were not

caused by eating " civilized " food but by abusing it. In addition to

dietary excesses, the increased disease rates were due to: (a) exposure to

unfamiliar germs, to which they were not resistant; ( the drastic change

in their way of life as they gave up strenuous physical activities such as

hunting; and © alcohol abuse.

Price also performed poorly designed studies that led him to conclude that

teeth treated with root canal therapy leaked bacteria or bacterial toxins

into the body, causing arthritis and many other diseases. This " focal

infection " theory led to needless extraction of millions of endodontically

treated teeth until well-designed studies, conducted during the 1930s,

demonstrated that the theory was not valid.