Systemic Diseases Caused by Oral Infection
Research by: XIAO JINGLI, KRISTIN KOLLTVEIT, LEIFT RONSTAD, INGAR OLSEN
Department of Oral Biology and Department of Endodontics
Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
The theory of focal infection, which was promulgated during the 19th and early 20th centuries, stated that foci of sepsis were responsible for the initiation and progression of a variety of inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, peptic ulcers, and appendicitis. In the oral cavity, therapeutic edentulation was common as a result of the popularity of the focal infection theory. Since many teeth were extracted without evidence of infection, thereby providing no relief of symptoms, the theory was discredited and largely ignored for many years. Recent progress in classification and identification of oral micro organisms and the realization that certain microorganisms are normally found only in the oral cavity have opened the way for a more realistic assessment of the importance of oral focal infection. It has become increasingly clear that the oral cavity can act as the site of origin for dissemination of pathogenic organisms to distant body sites, especially in immunocompromised hosts such as patients suffering from malignancies, diabetes, or rheumatoid arthritis or having corticosteroid or other immunosuppressive treatment. A number of epidemiological studies have suggested that oral infection, especially marginal and apical periodontitis, may be a risk factor for systemic diseases. The teeth are the only non-shedding surfaces in the body, and bacterial levels can reach more than 1011 microorganisms per mg of dental plaque. Human endodontal and periodontal infections are associated with complex microfloras in which approximately 200 species (in apical periodontitis) and more than 500 species (in marginal periodontitis) have been encountered. These infections are predominantly anaerobic, with gram-negative rods being the most common isolates. The anatomic closeness of these microfloras to the blood stream can facilitate bacteremia and systemic spread of bacterial products, components, and immunocomplexes.
Years of scientific research and the experience of biological dentists worldwide and at Camps Bay Medical & Dental Studio, supports these findings: inflammation and infection in the mouth = inflammation and disease in the body. Think about it logically: your immune system spends days, months, years “manning” an infected area in the jaw, trying to keep inflammation under control, trying to keep aggressive microorganisms from leaving the infected site and entering the blood system or the nerve system or the lymphatic system… keeping the immune system taxed….now add to this suppressive medications which the individual is already on to treat his diabetes, his cholesterol, his arthritis, her thyroid or hormonal issues or a diseased body that is not functioning optimally due to poor lifestyle choices, stress, lack of sleep….you now have a recipe for chronic disease. Studies indicate that a substantial percentage of adults, especially those 60 and older, are on multiple medications; one study found that 42.6% of patients used 5 to <10 medications per day, and 12.3% used 10 or more. Some of these drugs have adverse effects which either suppress the body’s innate ability to heal or suppress the immunity, leaving the body even further vulnerable to the infections/microorganisms around root canals or gum disease or osteonecrotic areas, having a systemic effect.
No discussion about a link between infections in the jaw and systemic health would be complete without looking at the research done by Dr Weston A. Price – who over 35 years of exhaustive research experimented on over 60,000 rabbits by embedding tips of infected teeth extracted from humans, under the belly skin of the rabbit. He did this to test time and time again how the bacteria from teeth impact the health of the whole body. In one experiment, in particular, Dr. Price took a tooth from a person who recently died from a heart attack and embedded the tip of that tooth root under the skin of a rabbit. Within two weeks, that rabbit died of a heart attack. Dr. Price then removed the tip from the now dead rabbit and embedded it under the skin of a second rabbit. The second rabbit died of a heart attack within two weeks. Dr. Price continued this procedure using the same tooth root with 100 rabbits.
All 100 rabbits died of a heart attack within two weeks.
He then went on to show that many chronic degenerative diseases originate from root-filled teeth—the most frequent being heart and circulatory diseases. In fact, he found 16 different causative bacterial agents for these conditions and in addition, there were strong correlations between root-filled teeth and diseases of the joints, brain and nervous system.
Dr. Price went on to write two groundbreaking books in 1922 detailing his research into the link between dental pathology and chronic illness.
He found that the only way to stop this progression of the root canal tooth from passing on the disease was to boil the tooth in water for 30 minutes – clearly not possible in the mouth.
In addition, the anatomic closeness of these micro-organisms to the bloodstream, can facilitate bacteremia and systemic spread of bacterial products, components, and immunocomplexes to the rest of the body. In fact, research shows that bacteremias are observed in 100% of the patients after dental extraction, in 70% after dental scaling, in 55% after third-molar surgery, in 20% after endodontic treatment, and in 55% after bilateral tonsillectomy. As you can imagine this is a super concern in patients with artificial heart valves, hip or knee replacements or any other body “implants” or where their immune system is compromised. Dissemination of oral microorganisms into the bloodstream occurs in less than 1 min after an oral procedure, allowing organisms from the infected site to reach the heart, lungs, and peripheral blood capillary system.
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Trying to treat systemic ailments without addressing issues in the mouth/jaw, is like trying to fill a bucket with water when you have a whole lot of holes in the bucket. You will land up spending a lot of money trying to attain good health or lead a healthy lifestyle but just struggle with exhaustion or brain fog or feeling run down – unable to figure out why or what the cause is. A truly integrative medical practitioner or physician, understands the link between oral and systemic health, and starts treating their patient by sending them to see an accredited biological dentist who will treat the oral inflammation and infection, before the patient spends thousands on medical treatments and supplements. Many of the top wholistic clinics worldwide, begin their treatment protocols with addressing the root causes in the mouth. In fact, many such cancer clinics, will not start treating patients before root canal treated teeth have been removed, amalgams safely removed and replaced with biological restorations and clearance of osteonecrotic areas,
“The teeth are always involved”
“Each tooth, as part of the body, is connected to the human’s meridian and lymphatic system. In the case of inflammation of a tooth or the surrounding area of the jaw, long-distance disturbances can occur at the corresponding functional circuit, as well as in the case of toxic exposure to heavy metals.”
– Dr. Thomas Rau, Medical Director of Paracelsus Wellness Centrehttp://paracelsuswellness.vn/en/biological-dentistry/the-teeth-are-always-involved/
Tooth Meridian Chart
Principles of Biological Dentistry: Teeth Affect Systemic Health
The fundamentals of biological dentistry is that teeth are directly connected to every single cell, to every single organ in our body and therefore are intimately correlated to our bodily functions, organ systems, tissues and cellular health. In addition, as energy beings, our teeth and organs also interact through the body’s lesser known (although in ackowledged in Chinese medicine for over 5000 years) superhighways: the Energy Meridians. Tooth Meridian Charts are used by other medical specialists beyond biological dentists like chiropractors, acupuncturists, naturopaths, functional MDs/DOs and energy medicine practitioners.
Energy Meridians
Meridians of the body affect every organ and physiological system inside of us. Although energy meridians are invisible to the human eye, they can be critical in all health and disease processes. The energy meridians that trained holistic dentists are versed in, are our body’s “energy bloodstream” and are inherently connected to the same energy bloodstream as the teeth. Energy meridians are the highways that bring vitality and balance, remove energy blockages, stagnations, and imbalances, adjust metabolism and determine the speed and form of cellular change. The energy meridian flow is critical to health in both the body and the oral microbiome. Tooth meridians which are those “energy highways” that pass through both the energy systems of the tooth and all associated organ systems affect not just the mouth but ALL major systems including immune, brain, nervous, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, digestive, skeletal, muscular and the lymphatic systems. Tooth meridians become an important element of restoring health when the energy is obstructed or unregulated by elements such as root canals, corrosive metals, infections, and amalgam side effects. When the individual tooth meridian energy systems that supply other bodily organs become damaged, the blockages may result in a subtle or drastic decline in overall health and may and result in a rise of disease processes.
The flow of energy can be likened to a river flowing which keeps the momentum and keeps clean by virtue of its constant movement. Blockages in the meridian flow, for example by an infected or dead tooth in the jaw, can be likened to beavers building a dam wall – the result will be a build up of water upstream, heading towards the wall as its flow has been blocked; and lack of water flow or stagnation downstream as water flow has been interrupted. The wall will create upward currents or it will have to veer to create a different path but the existing downstream river may eventually dry out as its source has been cut off.
This explains why research shows a link between the different teeth and diseased states in the corresponding organs – the healthy flow has been interrupted. This, together with the changing of the oral microbiome and the presence of inflammation, having an effect on the gut microbiome and inflammation of the gut – explain the profound link between oral health and systemic health. Click here to learn more:
