TOXIC MICROORGANISMS
Our first DNA studies examined bacteria retrieved from crushed root tips. We can identify eighty-three different anaerobic bacterial species with DNA testing. Root canals contain fifty-three different species out of these eighty-three samples. Some are more dangerous than others, and some occur frequently, some occasionally. Selecting those that occur more than 5 percent of the time, we found:
Capnocytophaga ochracea
Fusobacterium nucleatum
Gemella morbillorum
Leptotrichia buccalis
Porphyromonas gingivalis
Of what significance are these? Four affect the heart, three the nerves, two the kidneys, two the brain and one the sinus cavities. Shouldn’t we question the wisdom of supplying a haven for these microbes so close to our brain and circulatory system? Does this information validate the claims of “sterile” root canals?
Dentists claim they can “sterilize” the tooth before forcing the gutta percha wax down into the canal. Perhaps they can sterilize a column of air in the center of the tooth, but is that really where the problem is? Bacteria wandering out of the dentinal tubules is what Price was finding, and what we were finding in the crushed tooth samples. But does the problem end there? Hardly.
Just out of curiosity, we tested blood samples adjacent to the removed teeth and analyzed them for the presence of anaerobic bacteria. Approximately 400 percent more bacteria were found in the blood surrounding the root canal tooth than were in the tooth itself. It seems that the tooth is the incubator. The periodontal ligament supplies more food, therefore higher concentration of bacteria.
But the winner in pathological growth was in the bone surrounding the dead tooth. Looking at bacterial needs, there is a smorgasbord of bacterial nutrients present in the bone. This explains the tremendous increase in bacterial concentration in the blood surrounding the root canal tooth. Try sterilizing that volume of bone.
Apparently, the immune system doesn’t care for dead substances, and just the presence of dead tissue will cause the system to launch an attack. Infection, plus the autoimmune rejection reaction, causes more bacteria to collect around the dead tissue. Every time a person with a root canal bites down, these bacteria are flushed into the blood stream, and they start looking for a new home. Chemotaxis, or the chemical attraction of a specific bacteria for a specific tissue, assists the anaerobes in finding new quarters in the heart, nervous system, kidney, brain, etc., where they will perform their primary damage.
Many of the bacteria in the surrounding bone are present in far more than 50 percent of the samples tested. Streptococcus mutans was found in 92 percent of the blood samples. It can cause pneumonia, sinusitis, otitis media, meningitis and tooth decay.
Streptococcus mitis was found 92 percent of the time. This microbe attacks the heart and red blood cells. It is a rather hearty bug, for it went to the moon (hiding in a camera) on an unmanned expedition, stayed there over two years in an environment without atmosphere, exposed to temperatures of 250 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, minus 250 in the shadow. Upon returning to Earth with the astronauts of Apollo 12, over two years later, this microbe was still alive.10 In humans, S. mitis binds to platelets and is involved in the pathogenesis of infective endocarditis. Want this guy living in your dead root canal tooth?
Of the top eight bacteria in the blood adjacent to root canal teeth, five affect the heart, five the nervous system, two the kidney, two the liver, and one attacks the brain sinus, where they kill red blood cells Of these, Prevotella intermedia (present in 76 percent of the samples) attacks heart, kidney and sinus; Strep intermedius (present in 69 percent of the samples) attacks heart, nerves, lungs, liver and brain.
DNA examination of extracted root canals has shown bacterial contamination in 100 percent of the samples tested. This is quite the opposite of official claims that root canals are 97 percent successful. Do they need a new definition of success?