Root canal therapy is typically recommended when a conventional dentist notices advanced decay extending into the dentin of a tooth. They say this will “save” the tooth, but in reality, it saves only the outer structure. In other words, the ‘banana peel’ of the tooth is preserved, while the ‘banana fruit’ inside is sucked out and replaced with cement. This is analogous to the tooth structure being the external hard surface and in the pulp inside the root canals of the tooth structure, which is a living organ of real tissue that made the tooth alive and supplied it with nutrients – is removed. The tooth is now dead. The patient has experienced a “root canal” procedure redefined as the preservation of a dead tooth through the extraction of the pulp or the life supply of the tooth. The hollowed-out pulp chamber is then filled with a putty-like substance and sealed with a restoration.

What is a Root Canal?

So, when the bacteria have moved through the outer enamel layer and then through the millions of tubules that make up the dentin layer, they reach the pulp chamber where the blood vessels and nerve tissue connecting the tooth to the rest of the body, are located. The pulp chamber provides the tooth via blood vessels with nutrients, and immune system defensive cells like T-Cells and cytokines; and via the nerve tissue with feedback mechanisms to notify the human body when there is bacteria or damage to the tooth via the pain sensation.

Initially the body’s immune system will attempt to destroy these bacteria, but as time progresses and the patient ignores the on-off pain, the bacteria surpass the inflammation phase and “kill off the nerve and blood tissue” and start to infiltrate the surrounding periodontal ligament and bone. At this stage the patient will usually present to the dentist with “pain that keeps them awake”, “pain that is untouched by pain killers or anti-inflammatories”, & pain that my extend into the ear or eye or present with a swollen/tender gland below the jaw. An xray at this stage will usually reveal a small black halo around the root tip, confirming for the dentist that the patient has a tooth abscess and thus requires a root canal to remove the necrotic debris and thus “save the tooth”.

The process involves using a drill to obtain access to the pulp chamber and then using little files, the equivalent of bottle brushes, together with irrigation (usually Milton’s) to irrigate the pulp chamber walls. Dentists are trained to clean 1mm short of the tip of the root, and once cleaned, to seal the canal, again 1mm short of the apex. Unfortunately, most dentists do not use a microscope for better visibility nor do they address the bacteria that have infiltrated into the cementum, out into the periodontal ligament or out into the surrounding bone. The thinking is that the immune system will take care of all these bacterial “infestations”. In addition, the material used by most dentists and endodontists, contains alumium so as to be visible radiologically.

What are the concerns around Root Canal treatments?

To answer that, lets break up the above into steps:

• The dentin and cementum are made up of thousands of tiny tubules/tunnels – neither do the endo reamers (tiny bottle brushes) nor the irrigation process, access the full length of these canals throughout the tooth. i.e. It is impossible to 100% Disinfect the inside of the tooth.  This is where the use of ozone and lazers, in biological dentistry, bring another dimension to treatment.
• The protocols taught and used by dentists do not address the periodontal ligament and surrounding bone bacterial infiltration – thus leaving behind colonies of bacteria for the immune system to have to tackle (with varying degrees of success).
• Removing the necrotic nerve & blood supply, means that the dead is no longer a “living” part of the oral structure.
• The material used to fill the canals has heavy metals in it so as to be visible radiologically but thereby introducing another toxin into the body, especially in sensitive patients.

Conclusion: Everything in our body that is alive is permeable. Nothing in our body can be 100% sterilized, our body’s pathways are far more complex than meets the eye or the microscope, our tools to battle nature are limited, and infections are never local.

Food for thought:

The potential for a tooth to be an agent in the development of disease was first discovered by Dr. Weston Price in the 1930’s. His research involved the extraction of infected or root canal treated teeth that from patients suffering from different chronic ailments such as arthritis and heart issues. These teeth were then micro-sliced and implanted under the skin of healthy rabbits. His findings 100% of the time: These teeth implanted led to disease that mimicked the disease of the human tooth donor vs vital healthy teeth implanted led to no disease. In other words, these healthy rabbits died of heart disease or developed arthritis.

In conclusion.

Each patient and each tooth need to be evaluated based on the health condition of the individual patient and the level of degeneration and degree off toxicity that may have occurred within the tooth – this is based on the clinical history and the clinical and radiological (including that on 3D cbct scan) findings upon examination. Which tooth is involved i.e. anterior tooth vs a molar, also plays a critical role in the realistic outcome of success of root canal therapy as one canal vs 4 canals with all the subsidiary canals means a more complicated and thus a harder/more impossible system to clean out. The bigger the apical area, the closer is is to the sinus on a major nerve system, the less likely we are to recommend holding onto the tooth. But ultimately the decision always lies with the patient once all the information, pros and cons, have been presented to them.