It’s been many months since we first published the previous articles on root canals.
For those of you who are new to this series, we began this journey with an article titled, “Understanding the issues with root canals” that explores some of the primary concerns about root canal therapy.
We then pondered together what our options are if we have an existing root canal, with the article titled “I have a root canal. What are my options?”.
The last article we wrote on the subject explores options if we have a missing tooth. (While not specifically about root canals, one option that some people choose, if they have an existing root canal, is to have the dead tooth removed, so we include this article in the series.)
And so we continue the discussion of what is definitely one of the most heated debates in dentistry today. Arguments exist on both sides regarding the relative safety of root canal therapy.
Full disclosure here… We aren’t dentists, hygienists, or physicians. We can’t offer guidance, medical advice or anything of that sort. We do enjoy being the educated friend to help you think through your options, to support one another along our path toward dental self-empowerment, and to discuss questions you might want to ask your dentist if faced with this situation.
One way we like to address questions like this that come in from folks like you in our community is to ponder, “What would I do if faced with this situation?” This article serves as our answer to this question.
To start, we want to make sure that we have our heads screwed on straight on this subject. A root canal permanently kills a tooth by removing the nerve, pulp tissue and blood flow through the tooth. It’s a permanent surgical procedure.
Dentists who speak out against the safety of root canals bring up 3 main concerns:
1. There is no way to completely remove all the dead tissue from the tooth
2. There is no way to sterilize the tooth, thus leaving bacteria in the tooth
3. 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:
1. Enough of the tissue is removed
2. The body’s immune system can better get on top of any existing infection
3. There are improved substances to fill the tooth
4. There are no other suitable options
So, with both sides having seemingly solid arguments, how are we to navigate this circumstance?
Welcome to dental self-empowerment…
To begin, we have to start at the foundation. Each of us is in charge of navigating our path to optimal oral health. This is the baseline of our whole thinking here at OraWellness.
We have been conditioned to give our authority to those in more educated positions. When faced with a dentist who tells us that we need this or that treatment, most of us assume that they know everything there is to know on the subject and therefore know best.
In that assumption, we give our power over to the professional to make the decisions for us. It’s this ‘the medical professional knows what’s best for me’ mentality that we want to shift in our culture.
Now, this does not mean that we rebelliously reject anything the professional suggests or that we are anti-dentistry. Quite to the contrary. We believe a well-informed, gentle dentist can be your best friend and a life saver! It simply means that we must recognize that no one can tell us what is best for us. We want a dental team to be highly educated helpers, guides, and technicians. This is very different than the dental team being ‘the boss’ regarding what procedures each of us will or won’t have done and that we simply have to blindly follow their advice.
With that critical piece of the puzzle in place, we are in the position to make wiser choices and ultimately navigate this uncertain path more successfully.
1. Stay in your power.
If faced with this situation, I would take the dentist’s recommendation, tell them I would call if I wanted to schedule the appointment and get out of the office.
No doubt you’ve felt ‘that pressure’. You know, when you are sitting in the dental chair in their office, the ‘professional perspective’ can weigh much heavier on our psyche. So, take the prognosis, complete whatever you are there to do, and leave so you can think free from the ‘professional pressure’.
2. Time for a ‘heart to heart’ with yourself…
Now it’s time to really take a good, honest look at your life. If the dentist is accurate about the ‘need’ for a root canal (which we’ll address below), are you willing to do what it may take to keep the tooth? You see, there are many stories of people successfully ‘chasing back’ the need for a real root canal without getting the procedure.
However, people succeeding at this are not common as most of us simply won’t make the changes necessary to support our oral health sufficiently to recover from such an ‘end game’ situation. You see, by the time that a dentist suggests a root canal (again presuming they are correct in their prognosis), the infection has been destroying the integrity of that tooth for quite some time.
So, the effort it takes to recover from such a ‘position of compromise’ takes diligence. Even then, it’s not guaranteed that all efforts will prove successful in the end.
Are you willing to take an honest inventory of your diet and make the changes necessary?
Do you have the financial means to purchase supplementation and quality foods that will be required to make the shift?
If you choose to save the tooth, our ‘5 Steps to a Healthy Mouth’ video tutorial series will provide you a good foundation on the nutritional and mind frame necessary to be successful on your journey.
Taking a good, sober look at your situation and being real with yourself will help you determine which path is right for you. There’s no shame in realizing that we simply don’t have it in us right now to really make the shift necessary. That’s being honest with ourselves.
3. Question Authority
So, the next thing we would do is to get a second opinion. It may cost you a bit to do this, but given the permanence and potential risks of the procedure, choosing to get a second opinion may have a substantial impact on your long-term health.
We commonly say around here “Not all dentists are created equal”. What we mean by that is you can get very, very different diagnoses and suggested course of treatment from going to different dentists.
It’s an unfortunate reality that when to perform a specific procedure is very much not a black and white issue. While with some obvious situations, all dentists may agree with a course of treatment, with most situations, the expert opinions can vary widely.
So, given that we are being told that we need a permanent surgical procedure done that some within the very profession claim have potentially severe risks to our whole body health, we owe it to ourselves to get a second opinion prior to moving forward. Here’s a link to an article we wrote to help you find a dentist who is optimally qualified to assist you along your path to greater oral health.
Also, feel free to download our FREE Guide to Safe Dentistry, which explains what questions to ask to find a dental team who will work with you on your journey to greater oral health.
4. Research internal organ associations with the challenged tooth
So much clarity and insight can come when we stop and take a step back to look at ‘the big picture’. In this case, researching what internal organs relate to the challenged tooth may bring empowering ‘a-Ha’ experiences.
For example, let’s say that the tooth in question relates to your liver. Knowing this information can provide you additional information so you can focus more care on the liver and thereby optimally support the health of your whole body, whether you choose to do the root canal or choose to remediate the tooth holistically.
Here’s a link to our interactive Meridian Tooth Chart which shows you the internal organs and body parts that relate to each tooth. Just click on a tooth and the chart will tell you what organs/body parts relate to that tooth.
5. Ask intelligent questions before consenting to the procedure.
Ok, presuming you have gone through the ‘inner work’ to determine that you are going to move forward with the root canal, this step of asking questions is critical in order to find a dentist who can really help you through this.
Similar to the person who realizes in hindsight that they should have asked questions prior to having their mercury amalgams removed, taking the time (and confronting the cultural discomfort of asking some pointed questions of a medical professional) can make the difference between a successful dental procedure and one you may regret.
Given that this article is already a bit long (thanks for reading through to the end! :), we will continue this discussion in the next article where we will focus on the questions to ask your dentist regarding root canals. Here’s a link to 3 questions you must ask your dentist when considering a root canal.
As always, please share this article with loved ones in your life that may find benefit from these words of support. By sharing this article, you help us help others navigate the path to greater oral health.
That means more smiles in the world, which we all want to see! 🙂
Other articles on root canals:
Understanding the issues with root canals, part one
“I have a root canal. What are my options?”
Options if you have a missing tooth
3 questions to ask your dentist about a proposed root canal
Years of drinking coffee have taken a toll on my teeth which have become yellow over time. I felt that my trip to the dentist may suggest that I should go have root canal procedures. Thanks for the tip of not being afraid to ask questions to the professional before the procedure such as dealing with the risks and complications.
Good balanced article on doing a root canal (or retreatment on a failed root canal). I’m planning on retreating a failed root canal that caused a painful abscess with the gentle wave technology by an Endodontists who will also use the calcium hydroxide mentioned in the article for over 30 days.
https://www.aestheticfamilydentistry.com/case-study-ii/
Hello, Very communicative or live article as title depicts. The point is never delay if RCT required. Whatever the reason is there but you must take care if RCT needed to be relieve from the pain. So without any cross examination, go for RCT which relieve as well as saves your tooth for the longer period of the time. Thanks for sharing such useful information through live conversion.
Hi,
Both of the sides have good point like you said. I have found myself in a position where I don’t know what to do. Root canal seems tempting as it comes suggested by my dentist. On the other hand I am still looking for another escape out of this situation.
-Thanks for the quick read!
There are no current root canal instruments which can predictably remove bacteria, biofilm, and tissue from root canal systems. In addition, no current instrumentation system touches all canal walls. Research has shown 30-70% of canal walls are never touched by any root canal instruments. As a result, bacteria and residual pulp tissue are commonly entombed in the canals, tubules, and isthmuses after endodontic treatment.
According the ADA, “When a severe infection in a tooth requires endodontic treatment, that treatment is designed to eliminate bacteria from the infected root canal and prevent re-infection of the tooth.” This procedure is impossible with current endodontic instruments. The designed treatment for root canals intentionally entombs bacteria and remnants of pulp tissue. Hence, 99% of root canals are still infected at time of completion of treatment.
There are two new dental devices to remove over 99% of bacteria and pulp from the root canal space. These are the Photon Induced Photo-Acoustic Streaming laser and GentleWave. I have been a practicing Endodontist/ Root Canal Specialist for 30 years. Sadly more dentists are more interested in the profit margin than what is best for the dental patient. Intentionally sealing remnant pulp tissue and bacteria in the root canal filling is not a good idea. Cliff Ruddle DDS of Advanced Endodontics called this quackery.
I got a root canal done about a month ago. I needed it done because I was feeling discomfort on a cracked tooth and I paid a lot of money to get it done. One day I was eating dinner and a small piece fell out when I was brushing my teeth. What do you recommend I do?
Aloha Jorge,
I’m sorry to hear about your challenge. I suggest you contact the dentist who did the work and have them take care of it.
Great article. I loved how you pointed out that no dentists are created equal. This made me realize that getting a second opinion, although may cost more, will help in deciding to which dentist I will get the service from. I would also suggest getting the dentist to review his past work with you.
Hello, I was told a couple days ago that I’m in dire need of a root canal due to an absess in tooth #4. I’m feeling like my only other option is extraction. My head is spinning and I don’t know what to do.
I had no idea that there are organs associated with tooth problems that result in a root canal. Thanks for the tip, I’ll be sure to review these the next time my dentist recommends I get a root canal. Thanks for including the interactive tooth chart that shows how the internal organs relate to each tooth!
your words are great relief for me because myself has saw the tooth decay is great dangerous to the health as well it affects the gums , it causes new disease too. Then aches cause a great problem for me so that i can’t speak out very well .
Hi, firstly thanks for the great work you do. Secondly – do you have any idea why you can still feel pain in a tooth that has been removed? Sometimes my tooth aches then I realise it is a false one on my partial denture!
Just curious, thanks 🙂
Aloha Kuhla,
Thank you for your kind words and for reaching out to us here.
Pains like this where a tooth is already gone can come from a couple sources. First, it could be a pain from an adjacent tooth. Pains in the mouth can ‘migrate’ like this pretty easily.
Another possibility is that there is some infection under the gum tissue in the jaw bone at the site of the extraction. This is called a cavitation and you can read about the risks of this from our article titled, ‘The unknown, common risk with having wisdom teeth removed‘.
We hope this helps!
Does doing the root canal treatment hurt?
What a great tip that mentioned about questioning the authority of a dentist. It sure is something that I also keep in mind by just doing more research when it comes to my dentist telling about doing a root canal on my teeth. Well, from what’s been told to me is that people do get nervous about the procedure so my research is to mainly know everything that I would need to know.
I liked your point on asking intelligent questions before going with the procedure. Sometimes there are other treatment options. In my case though, I’ve had to go through with the root canal when it has been suggested. After a bit of discomfort my pain was gone and I was able to go about my day without the need for pain medication.
Hi Will! I also have a very deep filling which is close to the nerve. I just had a composite filling in it (as the dentist felt it was too deep to leave unfilled), but I want to try and heal it to prevent having a root canal later on. I’m wondering if this is possible with a filling in its place or if the filling has to be removed for it to have “secondary dentin” grow back in its place? Any insights on this situation would be gratefully accepted. And thanks for your products and info Will. It really has helped me and my family in my dental journey.
Aloha Christine,
Thank you for stopping by to ask and offer your kind words of support!
This is a really common question that I think we can help clear up right now. The secondary dentin that our bodies have the natural capacity to generate doesn’t ‘fill in’ any cavity space, whether that cavity space has been filled with a filling material or not. The secondary dentin occurs within the existing structure of the tooth. So, the cavity would still stay there. It’s just that if you were successful in arresting the decay in the cavity, the tooth tissue there would no longer be sticky and porous, but would be hard like a healthy tooth tissue should be.
Make sense so far?
To, just to make sure I answer your question, if I were in your shoes, I would still go ahead and have the cavity filled (provided that I was working with a dentist that I trusted and knew that s/he was effectively cleansing the cavity prior to filling it… Our preferred method of this is the use of ozone gas). All throughout this time, you can be applying diet protocols to support the creation of secondary dentin. The cool part is once we take the necessary measures for the body to be in this level of healing mode, the body does it throughout the mouth at sites that have been weakened and/or compromised, not just the one that the dentist is aware of. 🙂
I hope this helps to explain this common misconception about the mechanism of healing tooth decay! Thanks for asking to provide me the platform to explain this.
Aloha!
Thanks so much Will for the explanation, it was clear and concise! I appreciate it!
Thanks Christine! Me? Concise? Actually, the video was originally over 8 minutes long. You can thank Susan for her excellent editing capabilities to bring concision into our publishing efforts. 🙂
It is all good and everything to question authority, but I have had two root canals with no complications and no side effects thus far 6 or 7 years after. I wonder if the problem of infection risk still exists. Although with the advancement of dental implants, maybe that would be better than any other option. I don’t fully know either.
Hello,
Wonderful website so full of information. Thank you for sharing. I have a question about my tooth. I, unfortunately, have not been up to par with my dental care, and from that, have 2 cavities. One each on the upper molars (same tooth on left and right incidentally) The one on the right has a pretty big cavity, and just yesterday, a piece of the tooth broke off, the rest of it, is still in tact into the gum, but is wiggly. The cavity is exposed, no pain, but because the cavity is so far gone, one dentist told me, there’s probably a 20% of this tooth being saved. I am going to another dentist to get a second opinion. But I’m gathering from how bad it is, that they will need to pull out the tooth and either I leave the gap or fill it. I’m wondering what the best option is for “filling” this gap when they do pull out the tooth? Thanks very much!
My son knocked his front tooth while skateboarding. It has turned gray and we are told he needs a root canal. It is his front tooth, #8 and we want to save it. What are our options? Laser? We live in SF Bay Area.
We received an email from a dentist who wants to remain anonymous. She asked us to share with you that laser treatment of root canals from her perspective offers much promise to more conventional root canal treatment.
Here’s a link to a page she sent us to learn more about this specific treatment.
http://www.lightwalkerlaser.com/en/procedures/endodontics/
Thank you and Aloha!
oops, I for got the link.
http://www.o3center.org/Articles/index.html
WOW Jesse!
Thank yo SO much for sharing your story, experience, research and time with us all!
Wow, just wow.
We are in complete alignment with your comments on ozone. It is an extremely powerful treatment modality that we here in the US are almost completely unaware of.
Your points on zirconia (not zirconium :)) are really excellent. I didn’t know about the relative hardness/brittleness of zirconia. I agree, while it may not be the ideal option, at this time, clearly zirconia outweighs other metallic options if a person chooses to go the implant route. Let’s hope for stem cell technology to offer some solutions!
We so appreciate you investing so much time into sharing your story with us so others can benefit from your experience!!
Thank you and Aloha!
I promise, this is the end.
To finish this story, I ended up deciding on a “flipper” denture. I can’t say I am happy about the situation, but I can say I am happy with my decision. The tooth I lost was #31, the back right lower molar.I mostly only wear the flipper when I slept in an effort to prevent nearby teeth moving, which I think is working. I do still have my wisdom tooth in the back so am hoping to minimize bone loss problems. Chewing on my right side is a problem, my bite is out of whack sometimes and I hit a tooth on my upper left while chewing. In general it sucks having lost that tooth and I don’t think there is a good solution for me, once it is gone it is gone. This experience has just made me focus more on my dental health and prevention, I want to avoid another. I did appreciate Will’s comment about “use it or lose it”, that has me thinking about trying to wear my flipper when I eat and chew more on my right side. Thanks :).
It was sad for me to read the comments from those people who chose the root canal option and then developed health challenges. To those people I would encourage the investigation of ozone as a treatment method. Just as Will has said, I am not a doctor so this is not advice, but if it was me I would pursue ozone for any type of cancer or autoimmune condition I developed. Here is a link that is a very comprehensive resources for ozone in medical/dental applications. As an intro I suggest reading the article “The Story of Ozone” by Dr. Saul Pressman. There are also articles about ozone in dentistry as well as medical. As you will see by the articles, there are claims of curing everything from AIDS to cancer. Personally, I believe it is all true. Ozone is a very powerful anti-bacterial, anti-virial chemical. It achieves this by it’s power of oxidation, the only thing more potent in that regard is fluorine. But, compared to chlorine or hydrogen peroxide, ozone is much more powerful. During the time period after 911 the government was spending a lot of research dollars on ways to combat anthrax. The company I worked for was always pursuing this government funding so we tested our ozone generator with an anthrax “simulant bug” at a certified lab. It was a simulant bug of course because civilians can’t get anthrax, but I am sure it was a nasty bug, and the ozone killed it. We never got any funding, the issue actually faded away fairly quickly. My point is, if I had some type of bug in my body, I would want ozone. In terms of cancer, which may or may not be “bug related”, ozone/oxygen may provide other modes of healing besides just killing bugs, i.e. oxygenation, but really, I do digress here, I just want to encourage the exploration of ozone for anyone looking for solutions to health problems. I’m a big ozone advocate. 🙂 One final comment, but, I’m not a doctor, if it were me with a problem, and it would depend on what was the problem, I would look to rectal insufflation first, then ozone sauna and finally as a last resort ozone autohemotherapy as a means to administer the ozone into my body. Anyone interested has to do their own research, if they go that far this comment will then have meaning to them. Good luck to all those with health challenges.
I warned you. 🙂
Maybe I should take a short break and say something about myself for context. I am a materials scientist/engineer that has worked extensively with zirconia as an electrochemical ceramic, what is known as an oxygen ion conductor, that is used in applications such as oxygen sensors, oxygen generators and solid oxide fuel cells. I have also worked on medical applications of ozone, specifically, I was involved with the development of a miniature ozone generator built into a syringe for treating herniated discs. An Italian doctor contacted our company requesting such a device because he was having success with the treatment method but did not like having to take samples of ozone from a larger machine. In Europe, ozone is used much more widely and he had some very positive results with his treatment method. Enough about me, back to implants. I was familiar with Hal Huggins work for many years and had all my mercury removed in 2001. I was pretty much sure titanium wasn’t an option for me but was definitely interested in zirconia. I have watched some of the development in using zirconia as a bone replacement over the years and it integrates very well in the human body and does not appear to be toxic. As an oxide material it is very stable and non reactive with other things. Much of the research literature published in “Osseointegration” indicated very positive results using zirconia for dental implants as well. It all looked, and may well be, a very promising solution for a missing tooth. But, as with any medical/dental treatments there are risks, despite what the favorable statistics may indicate. In the end there were 2 main reasons along with some additional considerations that made me decide to avoid the implant. Number one is the potential risk of nerve damage. Every dentist I have spoken with insists on the precision and accuracy available today with 3D x-ray technology. I’m not convinced, and there are some people out there who suffer nerve damage and pain 24 hrs. a day from that damage. Statistically, the number is very small. I am very risk averse. The second factor was the elastic modulus of zirconia. That is a mechanical material property of zirconia which indicates how stiff a material is. It turns out that zirconia is stiffer than a normal tooth and may lead to jaw pain or problems in the long run. It is still hard for material science to completely mimick mother nature, though there is significant effort in trying. One additional factor that may be specific only to my case, was my dentist continually referred to the implant as “zirconium” which is, of course, the metal element involved. Zirconia is very different than zirconium (it is the oxide form) which I tried to point out to him, yet, he continued to refer to it as zirconium. Despite having put in about 100 ceramic implants, having the Hal Huggins, Weston Price, etc. literature in the lobby, he didn’t get the distinction between the two. It really made me wonder how much of a “mechanic” a dentist may be. Forgot all that chemistry he learned in dental school. In any event those are the reasons I chose not to have an implant. With all that said, if I were to consider a zirconia implant, I was very impressed with the design of the “ceraroot”. Anyone interested should google that, it is a European company but I believe they are available in the US, challenge will be finding a dentist who has ever put one in, and I believe that is important.
Hi Will,
First, I want to thank you and Susan for all you do to share your knowledge and experience of health and wellness. Four years ago when I had a toothache I would have loved to have a like-minded friend like you to bounce ideas off and discuss these important issues of root canal vs. extraction. I’m not sure if your blog was up and running then, I didn’t come across it in any of my searches. In the spirit of sharing experiences, I thought I would throw mine out there too in the hope it may help someone, sorry for the run on but this may be fairly long. 🙂
When my tooth started hurting and it became clear to me I had to decide on a root canal or extraction, I consulted with the 3 biological dentists along the Wasatch front that are all within an hour of my home in salt lake (one of which was my dentist at the time). Each uses ozone in their practice and each had a different perspective to offer me in considering my choices, it is well worth second and third opinions. One of the dentists also included laser treatment of infected teeth in his practice, so that was a big plus in my mind. I had been reading info from the internet from a dentist in California (can’t remember who right now) that talked about treating an infected tooth with a laser treatment and only removing the infected portions. By preserving some live tissue in the tooth he found he had good success with patients in saving the tooth with that treatment. In the end, this sounded so attractive to me that it heavily biased my decision to go with that particular dentist for treatment. In addition, he had experience with zirconia implants and had done about 100 in his practice with no problems observed yet, another key part of my decision. As everyone realizes I’m sure, when you have a toothache time is short and you need to figure out what to do pretty quickly. So I made the decision to go with the dentist who has treated infected teeth by laser, with the plan that he would open up the tooth, check for the amount of infection with the hope he could treat it with the laser, and if not, we would decide at that time the next step, which would most likely be extraction. At the time, my plan was, if extraction, I would then do the ceramic zirconia implant. Well, in retrospect, I think when a tooth is hurting that much it is unrealistic to think that the infection isn’t widespread. In any case, it only took a minute or two for him to tell me that the infection was really bad and he suggested extraction. Out came the tooth, and though I don’t blame that dentist at all for the fact that the tooth ended up being extracted, I do believe that he knew it would be that infected and we would end up extracting the tooth. My point is this, I think many times in situations like this the health care provider will try to provide all available options and in theory not included their bias. In my opinion, the reality is that in his experience the best option for me to take was to extract the tooth and do a ceramic implant, and as a result he did his best to lead me in that direction. I don’t fault him at all for this, that is his experience and may well be a very valid assessment of the situation. I just think it is important for people to realize that often times in situations like this the health care provider will try to steer the patient in the direction of things that have worked best for them. There really is nothing wrong with that approach, it is just sometimes that may not be the best approach for everybody, so each individual really has to look at their own situation to make the best decision for themselves. So the tooth came out, the gum healed nicely, and I had more time now to research implants. Then I chickened out because I didn’t like what I found. 🙂
Very nice article! I’ve enjoyed your products (Though, am wondering can you make the mix w/o cinnamin?)
I have a comment and question: I recently went to the dentist (a new one) after many years of not having a dental appmt. (Yes, bad that I missed professional cleanings and I very much regret, but unfortunately, I was dealing the aftermaths of an accident that causes constant pain, and well…my dental helath seemed low on the list.) The good news: They said I had an unbelievably little amount of plaque/tartar buildup for not having had a prof cleaning for a number of yrs. As would be expected, I do have some cavities. (I plan on getting a second opinon, as I’m not convinced a couple things I was told are the best way to handle things.)
But my question relates to the topic Giarose mentioned (secondart dentin). The hygienist mentioned a couple things during my cleanings that I wanted to ask the dentist about. However, I forgot to ask about two things, prob because it was during the holidays and I was very tired. When she looked at the x-rays (they took a full set, which i expected), she pointed to them, and said something like, “Down over here, near where you had a root canal.” I said, I never had a root canal! She was suprised, and showed me how the x-ray showed that a lower tooth (third from middle) was filled in with a white color in the x-ray. And it was! But, unless I was young and don’t remember (and I don’t think that’s the case, but I’ll ask my mother, though I’m in my 40s now, so doubt she’d recall!), I know I have never had a root canal in my young adult to adult life. I saw the comments about secondary dentin and am now wondering, would this phenomenon “appear” to be a root canal on an x-ray? I’d not think so, but…? I’d be thrilled to know that was the situation.
Long note…sorry! I fully realize you’re not a dentist, but would greatly appreciate your educated opinion!
Thank you!
Chris
Aloha Chris,
Thanks for stopping by to offer your kind words on our blend and ask a question.
First off, we can make you a custom blend without cinnamon if you like! Just contact us the next time you want to order and we’ll make you up a custom order.
I’m not sure about your situation. It’s an odd one for sure. It very well may be that a dentist simply did the treatment on you as a youth and called it a filling. You know how time warps while in a dental chair when we ‘go to a safe place’ while being worked on. Perhaps this happened?
I don’t think that secondary dentin would look the same on an xray as the materials used to fill a root canal. Not sure on that, but it doesn’t seem like it would be the same. Sorry I can’t offer more there.
As always, holler with any others, we’re here to help.
FANTASTIC articles about root canals!!! THANKS SO MUCH for taking the time do do such wonderful write ups!!! I spent about 100 hours of research into dentistry in the US in 2013 – started with your WONDERFUL “Heal Thy Mouth World Summit”. As of March 1, 2014 I am now 100% bio-compatible in my mouth (no amalgams, no root canals, no crowns with heavy metals, no cavitations). Prior to my surgery I was in good health and thought I felt great. I now have even more energy and mental clarity and a number of little piddly symptoms have disappeared (I think likely the mercury poisoning). I LOVE your root canal articles and plan to link to them from my web site when I get around to doing updates.
THANKS SO SO MUCH! In love and light!!! flo
Wow Flo!
Thanks so much for the loving comments!
Congratulations on walking your successful journey to greater oral health! We are so honored to serve you in this crucial way!
Thank you and Aloha!
Hi will & Sue
I see in one of your articles where you mention http://www.the-o-zone.cc you describe the ozone practitioner list as ‘not one of the friendliest sites’. Oh well, without a shed load of funding or charging to be listed on this site, & since I do the upgrades and programming myself, it’s going to have to stay that way.
Your link no longer works as I have redesigned TheOZone. The new links you will be able the find by going to http://www.the-o-zone.cc and follow the links. The listings now include Medical Doctors, Dentists, Vets, Therapists. I’d caution against looking at self-regulated letters or awards by various organisations. It does not make them ‘better’ or more empathetic practitioners. IMHO letters after a name seems to be an excuse to charge more.
Lastly there’s a whole new range of ozone products on http://www.greycle terrorises.com. The product range has been expanded to ozone face creams, soaps, oils and equipment for both at-home use and by the professional ozone therapist.
With regards & best wishes Julian
Dr Julian Holmes. Ozone products on http://www.greycellenterprises.com
Aloha Dr Julian!
Thank you SO much for coming by and offering your words here!
For clarity, what we meant by ‘not the friendliest site’ was the challenge we had in sorting/searching the database. I will change the article to reflect the updated site.
Haha about the letters behind a person’s name! Thanks for the chuckle!
Thank you and Aloha!!
Last spring I had a near abscessed tooth topped by a bridge connected to two other teeth. I was told I had 3options; a root canal (which is a definite no for me)pull it or get a transplant. So I opted for the transplant. The dentist suggested I start on an antibiotic because of a heart issue. I immediately went to my Kinesiologist to get a non pharmceutical antibiotic and his scheduled patient did not show (my angels work overtime) and he said the antibiotic pill would not help and gave me the same antibiotic in liquid form to use 3xday back and front of the tooth. The transplant dentist was busy so required a waiting time..To make a long story shorter, I still have my tooth. My blood pressure was too high to have my tooth pulled the day scheduled and my kinesiologist said the infection was gone.
I have a tooth that has been Aching for several years- usually low intensity but at times much more and it is hard to ignore. It has a very deep filling which is close to the nerve as well as receded gum around the tooth. My dentist tells me root canal or extraction are my only options. I’m wondering if there is any other way for the tooth to heal itsel in this case because of the filling being so close to the nerve.
I have an intolerance to dairy, so would not be able to eat butter as is recommended by Ramiel Nagel. thank you for your input.
Aloha Mary,
Thank you for stopping by and asking us. We are honored to help in anyway we can.
We can’t speak in contrast to what any dentist suggests. That said, we very much are here to empower others like you to know all options. If I were in your shoes, I would be willing to give it my best shot. Here’s how I would walk this path.
I would ask my dentist if they are willing to take a clean xray of the tooth and help me watch it as I plan to address this nutritionally. If the dentist balked or gave me any resistance to this idea, I would find another dentist who is willing to be the trained expert support for my desires.
Then, I would apply to the best of my efforts whatever support I could including nutritional, lifestyle, and oral hygiene adjustments. You can learn more about where to start regarding this by signing up for our free video tutorial series, the 5 Steps to a Healthy Mouth.
In the 5 steps video series, we offer lots of nutritional suggestions, including what to do if you can’t do dairy. 🙂
It depends on what aspect of dairy you are intolerant to. You may be able to still incorporate ghee (clarified butter) which has the fat soluble vitamins that are of such benefit in butter. If not, you can supplement vitamin K2 and D3 in order to optimally support the body in recovering. There are many more nutritional/dietary suggestions in the video series, so I’ll stop here and encourage you to sign up to receive it.
Getting back into ‘your shoes’ for a moment, I would apply whatever support for 3-6 months, then go back for another xray to see if my efforts are making progress. An xray will show if the body is establishing what is called ‘secondary dentin’ to protect the pulp chamber from existing decay.
At that point, depending on what was found, I could decide if I wanted to continue the path, increase my efforts, or choose root canal or extraction. Unless the pain is unbearable, it seems to me worth it to give the body a chance to get on top of the situation.
Thanks again for stopping by! 🙂
Dear sir/madam,
I love reading your articles but the problem I’ve had with your past couple of articles, in particular with this one is that your print makes it impossible to read. Each line has one word or a letter. Please check your emails before there sent.
Thanking you
Regards
Fiona De Angelis
Aloha Fiona,
I’m sorry for the formatting issues. I’m afraid our site is not mobile friendly yet. However, the good news is we are redesigning the site and one of the many important upgrades we are incorporating is to remedy this! 🙂
Thanks for giving a voice to why it’s so important that we make the site mobile friendly!
I had the same issue until I turned the phone sideways. Now I can read lines of text.
My son who is 13 yrs old cracked his 2 front teeth skateboarding. He had them bonded and is experiencing a lot of tooth sensitivity to hot and cold foods. He is told he has to have a root canal on those teeth. What are his options?
Aloha Cara,
I’m sorry to be responding to you so late. No excuses.
I’m sorry to hear about your son. I think I fully covered what I consider to be his options in this article. There are pros and cons to either side really. After all, if you and he choose to have the front teeth removed, there is no turning back from that permanent decision. On the other side, having root canals in general, in particular on the front teeth, is problematic.
If I were in his shoes, I would go to our ‘dream dentist’ and ask for his suggestions. The problem as we see it is not all dentists are created equal and dentists definitely don’t all do root canals using the same procedures.
I wish I had more info for you.
I have found food sensitivities to be important. Many people have sensitivities to calcium, and/or fluorine, and/or phosphorous. When you eliminate these sensitivities with something like NAET, or Bioset, then the mouth is much more healthy as is the rest of the person.
Thanks for sharing your input and experience here Loren!
Absolutely great and helpful information!
Thank you for the kind words Ann!
I was told I needed a root canal after giving birth to my fourth child. I was in a lot of pain but was determined not to get one after visiting the different specialist and hearing the options they gave me. I read Ramiel Nagel’s book and then went on a grain-free, sugar-free diet, eating lots of bone broth, veggies, very little fruit, grass-fed meat and dairy, probiotics, and FCLO. Eventually, the pain went away. I continued this diet for about 8 months. Three years later I had x-rays done at a dental appointment and the hygienist said, “Oh, it looks like your tooth has given itself a root canal.” I asked her to please explain! I asked her if this was a rare occurrence and she said that no, it was just nature taking its course and my root was filling in on its own. Why didn’t more people know about this? Because people want to be free from pain immediately and opt for the root canal or pulling the tooth. I told her that I was pretty sure more people would not opt for either of those if they knew that their bodies were capable of healing themselves this way!!
Aloha Giarose,
Thank you SO much for sharing your story with us! You hit it just right! What you tooth did is called creating a layer of ‘secondary dentin’ where the tooth builds more healthy bone tissue by shrinking the pulp chamber. If anyone reading this wonderful story would like to learn how the body does this, you can definitely check out Ramiel Nagel’s book on tooth decay or sign up to receive our free video tutorial series, the 5 steps to a healthy mouth, which dives into this subject of building new tooth tissue from the inside out as well as many other empowering gems.
Thanks again Giarose! Congratulations!!
Thank you so much for sharing this., believe bit or not you just made me feel good. I’m going to follow your lead. Thank you so much I was really getting worried about my root canal I need two that’s what the dentist said to me.
Hello, can you say which of his books is best to find this info. He has a few.
Blessings,
Lei