Avoiding Root Canals

If you’ve read my answer in the FAQ section to “what is your opinion of root canals”, it’s clear that I’m not a fan of this common dental procedure. Based on my experience and the available research data, I don’t believe there is any such thing as a healthy root canal.

To understand why I feel this way, let’s talk a bit about the root canal process.  If you were to slice a tooth in half, you would see the following:

• an outer shell of enamel covering the tooth crown
• an inner core of dentin
• the dental pulp occupying the very center of the tooth
• various pulp—filled canals running through the center of the roots

The pulp is composed primarily of blood vessels and nerves . . . they feed the tooth and give it feeling. If bacteria travel through the dentin and invade the pulp, it becomes infected and will eventually die.  Once the nerve is dead, it remains infected and cannot be regenerated. This is typically when a root canal is recommended.

The root canal process goes something like this:

• a small hole is drilled in the top of the tooth to access the pulp chamber
• the entry for each individual canal is identified
• long, narrow files are used to remove the pulp from each canal
• the canals are sealed with a thermoplastic material

As explained, it sounds pretty straight forward . . . the devil is in the details.  The cartoon drawings I used above don’t tell the whole story. Looking a little closer we discover that the actual 3-D anatomy of the root canal system is extremely complex . . . it forms thin ribbons, branches and interconnections that make complete mechanical removal of the infected pulp virtually impossible. This means some of the pulp and bacteria are always left behind.

Also, the roots are made of dentin. A closer look at the structure of dentin reveals it contains millions of microscopic tubules.  Bacteria from the infected pulp reside in these tubules and are not removed by root canal therapy.

This is why I believe there is no such thing as a healthy root canal . . . no matter who well the procedure is done, bacteria will always remain in the tooth.  Even worse, the oxygen carrying blood vessels are removed during the root canal process creating what is called an anaerobic (without oxygen) environment.  In the absence of oxygen, the bacteria trapped within the tooth mutate into anaerobic species and spew extremely toxic substances into the bloodstream.

As you already know, I’m a different kind of dentist. I believe the health of your mouth can dramatically affect the health of your body. I also believe that our number one mandate as health care providers is “first do no harm”. In my opinion, root canals are not a healthy treatment option.

The great news is that very often, the need for a root canal can be entirely prevented:

• good nutrition can prevent or reverse decay
• ozone can heal deep decay that might otherwise threaten the dental pulp
• conservative, biomimetic inlay and onlay restorations avoid injuring the pulp—aggressive crown procedures often damage the pulp