Root Canals
Root canal treatment (endodontic therapy) for the purpose of retaining a tooth in the mouth if its nerve dies or is abscessed is a last resort. In fact a tooth is the only organ or tissue in the body that is not removed when it dies.
Instead, mainstream dentistry treats it by removing only the dead tissue from within its canal(s), disinfecting the space created, and filling it with an inert substance. Such a tooth will survive in the mouth for years if properly restored. For most biological dentists, however, the disturbing aspects of this type of therapy are the following:
- The root is composed of millions of tiny dentine tubules. Under the microscope it looks like a box of straws. The millions of these canals are still inhabited by millions of unbeneficial bacteria, which now start producing potent toxins. Such a tooth is then considered to be a “focus of toxicity” in the body, implying that it may affect distant organs in the body.
- Some reports suspect a relationship between the occurrence of certain chronic diseases and root canals. On the other hand there are also reports that some of these diseases improve after the root canalled teeth are removed.
The decision whether to keep or extract a dead, root canalled or dying tooth ultimately needs to be made by the patient.
Factors to consider, however, are:
- The length of time the tooth has been dead without being root treated.
- The strategic importance of the tooth. (aesthetics, anchoring purpose etc)
- The presence of a serious chronic degenerative or autoimmune disease, unexplained neuralgic pains, heart disorder, or lowered immune system.
The ISH SKO Centre performs root canal therapy on front teeth (singular root) and refers Premolar and Molar endodontic therapy to a root canal specialist.
