Why do dentists still perform root canal therapy?

Episode 6 of Dangers in Dentistry, originally aired on KPRZ in San Diego.

If root canals can cause so many systemic and neurological problems, why do dentists still perform root canal therapy? What are the alternatives? What questions should you ask your dentist about root canals before you have one? Discover the answers to these and other questions in this week’s episode of Dangers in Dentistry.

Enjoy!
Dr. Marvin
San Diego, Encinitas Holistic Dentist

Root Canals: Everything Your Dentist “Forgot” to Tell You

Episode 5 of Dangers in Dentistry, originally aired on KPRZ in San Diego.

Discover the hidden secrets behind root canals: the systemic link, the practice that has changed little in over 300 years, the dangers you were never told by your dentist, the alternatives, and what you can do if you’ve already had a root canal. Discover it all in this episode of Dangers in Dentistry.

Enjoy!
Dr. Marvin
San Diego, Encinitas Holistic Dentist

One In Five Women Have Too Much Mercury In Their System… How Much Do You Have?

Green Peace has been conducting a study to determine the amount of mercury in our systems and to prompt the government to take action. The results of the study were astounding. In fact, 1 in 5 women of child-bearing age that were tested had mercury levels above the EPAs recommended limit.

You can have your mercury levels tested by ordering a kit through Green Peace’s website (https://secureusa.greenpeace.org/mercury/) or you can give our office a call (or email us) and we can help you out, too.

The entire Green Peace study is pretty powerful, but even if you don’t have time to read it all, please do check out the article on their site about it (http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/mercury-report). I’ve posted it below to make it easier for you to read.

They say “you are what you eat,” but this country must be having an identity crisis because no one knows what to eat anymore.  Half the nation believes that bread is a nutritious, comforting food and the other half believes it should be avoided like the plague.  Competing diet theories have polarized America in a manner reminiscent of the 2000 election, and fish is no exception.  On one hand, fish is chock-full of essential proteins, vitamins and minerals.  It can help lower your cholesterol and even aid in weight loss (hold the butter).  But our new study confims that there’s another element present in fish that won’t be found on any food pyramid.  The fish we consume contains mercury and it is affecting our health – especially when it comes to women and children.

Mercury is a highly toxic chemical that can cause a laundry list of health problems. Personal exposure to mercury can lead to the inability to focus and pay attention, delayed language development, impaired memory, vision and motor coordination and problems processing information.  These symptoms are more pronounced when mercury exposure occurs in the womb.

Power plants are the biggest source of mercury pollution in the country. After mercury is released into the air, it contaminates rivers, lakes and oceans and eventually the fish that we consume.  But that’s not stopping the Bush administration from attempting to evade the Clean Air Act by proposing new regulations that cater to the energy companies.

Talk About a Bad Hair Day

For almost two years, we’ve been working with the Environmental Quality Institute (EQI) at the University of North Carolina-Asheville to conduct the largest mercury hair sampling project in history.  By analyzing a snip of hair from participants all over the country, we are able to determine an individual’s personal mercury level.

Living in Hawaii, my family and friends eat a lot of fish and seafood, and feel relatively safe eating locally caught fish, because we are separated from the mainland by 2,500 miles of ocean. I was shocked that my test showed that my mercury level was twice the recommended amount.  It is a tragedy that a significant part of the diet here may no longer be safe for children and women, in large part because of the neligent practices of factories that are thousands of miles away.  Hopefully this real data will be a step toward reintroducing the voices of people like me and my family into the decision-making that continues to affect all of us, everywhere.

–Aarin Gross
Kaneohe, HI
Hear from more of the study participants.

The results are in, and the findings are worse than we anticipated: one in five women of childbearing age that were tested have mercury levels exceeding the EPA’s recommended limit.

“In the samples we analyzed, the greatest single factor influencing mercury exposure was the frequency of fish consumption,” said Dr. Steve Patch, Co-director of EQI and co-author of the report.  “We saw a direct relationship between people’s mercury levels and the amount of store-bought fish, canned tuna fish or locally caught fish people consumed.”

People shouldn’t have to choose between eating the fish they love and living a mercury-free life.  To stop this contamination we must eliminate the pollution at its source.  We need new laws to clean up these power plants and we have to start investing in clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar today.

Article courtesy of Green Peace
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/

Gum Disease and Heart Disease: Scientifically Linked!

As an holistic dentist, I’m used to having people question the practice. After all, if the ADA hasn’t specifically said that mercury is bad (even though it’s a well know and scientifically proven neuro-toxin recognized by the FDA), then why should they believe that mercury fillings are bad?

The fact of the matter is, many governing bodies in the health industries are looking out more for the doctors than for the patients.

This weekend I was reading some health news and came across the following article on centrahealth.com. Is this the irrefutable proof people need to understand and believe the link between gum disease and heart disease? If it means taking care of yourself, then I certainly hope so… but read on and find out for yourself….

TUESDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) — A genetic link between gum disease (periodontitis) and heart disease has been discovered by German scientists. The association between periodontitis and coronary heart disease (CHD) has been known for years, but a genetic link between the conditions hadn’t been confirmed. The University of Kiel team found that the two diseases share a genetic variant on chromosome 9. “We studied a genetic locus on chromosome 9p21.3 that had previously been identified to be associated with myocardial infarction [heart attack], in a group of 151 patients suffering from the most aggressive, early-onset forms of periodontitis, and a group of 1,097 CHD patients who had already had a heart attack. The genetic variation associated with the clinical pictures of both diseases was identical,” Dr. Arne Schaefer said in a European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG) news release. He and his colleagues verified this genetic association in additional groups of 180 periodontitis patients and 1,100 CHD patients. The study was presented May 25 at the annual ESHG conference, in Vienna, Austria. Because of the link between periodontitis and CHD, “we think that periodontitis should be taken very seriously by dentists and diagnosed and treated as early as possible,” Schaefer said. He noted that periodontitis and CHD share risk factors such as smoking, diabetes and obesity. “Now that we know for sure that there is a strong genetic link, patients with periodontitis should try to reduce their risk factors and take preventive measures at an early stage,” he said. “We hope that our findings will make it easier to diagnose the disease at an early stage, and that in future, a greater insight into the specific pathophysiology might open the way to effective treatment before the disease can take hold.”

SOURCE: European Society of Human Genetics, news release, May 25, 2009, and http://myhealth.centrahealth.com/healthnews/healthday/090526HD627365.htm

Composite Fillings Made From Human Bile?

At The Center for Natural Dentistry, we’re always looking for the latest in “safe, natural” dental alternatives. But how would you feel if your next filling was made from bile acids from a cadaver’s gall bladder? It might not be that far-fetched.

“Scientists in Canada and China are reporting development of a new dental filling material that substitutes natural ingredients from the human body for controversial ingredients in existing “composite,” or plastic, fillings. The new material appears stronger and longer lasting, as well, with the potential for reducing painful filling cracks and emergency visits to the dentist, the scientists say. Their study appears in the current edition of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.”

-physorg.com

http://www.physorg.com/news162060563.html

The study, being conducted by Julian X.X. Zhu and colleagues, has shown that resins created from bile acids form an extremely hard, durable “plastic” that resists cracking and can bond to the teeth indefinitely.

Are You Ready for Bile Fillings?

Is this going too far? Would you allow cadaver’s bile acid to placed in your mouth? In the trending toward natural medical alternatives, fillings made from human bile might be only the beginning.