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firedingo · 7 years

Text

A Depressed Rant

So I’m not sure this is a blog so much as it is a rant but hey if you’d like to read it, I’d appreciate that.

So the last month has been kinda nuts. My uncle got so sick he had to go to hospital, he’s ok and out now but he was sick enough he could have died. For the time that he was in hospital, we looked after his 9 month old puppy. You can imagine how that went.

About 10 days later, my sister and her husband went on holidays for a few days maybe a week. I didn’t exactly count the days. While they were gone, we also looked after their dog.

So at one point we had my uncle’s dog, my sister and brother-in-law’s dog as well as our dog. So three dogs. That was kinda nuts.

The after they went home I got sick. Stupid flu or something in Summer no less -_-

So that took like 10 days for me to get better. Mainly for me to stop endlessly coughing. It was something like 3 weeks of insanity. During that time, I was suppose to start a new antidepressant. To say that was the last thing on my mind was an understatement.

Thankfully I was able to get some extra time on my medical certificate exemption from my mutual obligations which will allow me adjustment time.

At this point, I’m at day 2 of having started. It’s a 20mg dose of Lovan which is fairly low and my first 2 doses I broke the tablet in two and took them separately. I’ll take the full tablet for my third dose. Not really expecting much. I’ve had Lovan before.

That said, I can’t decide if it’s just bad timing or if the Lovan is the cause but I’ve felt extra crap today. I feel like a walking emotionally numb zombie. I feel like I don’t care about anything and I feel like I’m disengaged from life.

I’ve also had thoughts of self-harm. Namely my brain....or perhaps the depression tried to convince me earlier that picking up some scissors in my hand and stabbing myself through the leg would be a good idea.

I think it was more the depression saying that since I know my own brain fairly well. It tries to convince me that fast food makes logical sense, it hasn’t tried to convince me to hurt myself before to the best of my knowledge.

Normally my bad days go from ok to feeling crap, have a good cry and feel like I’m the worst person in the world before I go to numb and then back to ok. Then rinse and repeat. Because I cycle like that I learn to push through to the not so shit times and to run with the good times to get stuff done. Yet today doesn’t feel like a regular bad day which is why I can’t help but wonder if the Lovan has anything to do with it.

I don’t feel good, I know this and what’s worse is I know I have the energy and motivation to act on some of my bad thoughts if I’m not careful.

I can barely focus. I just feel like what’s the point? I don’t care. It’s like a switch flicked in my brain overnight and now nothing has value or meaning for me. Not even life itself.

What future do I have? I have no education higher than year 12, I have barely any work experience, the only references I have are still from school, 8 years ago. I can’t hold a job down. I know within weeks of starting I would crack from the additional pressure.

My health isn’t ideal, my dental health is almost akin to an apocalypse. I can’t afford to get my own place, family stress me out worse than you could know. There is also history between my family and me that is not good.

The impression I get from the government is complete and utter contempt and hate. 1) because I’m unemployed, 2) because I’m poor and 3) because I’d like to be a game developer. Thanks to this Liberal/National Party Government, their ideology tells them all 3 groups are detestable along with disabled, old people, public service workers, refugees, asylum seekers, families, others on welfare and just about anyone who isn’t a rich person or a corporation it seems.

I hardly eat, partly because I don’t feel like it but partly because I can barely afford it sometimes. I rarely eat meat because of its cost.

I’m not even sure a lot of this makes sense. That’s another thing, on bad days, I struggle to form proper sentences or more likely I’ll only form half a sentence and then I’ll begin speaking or typing it only to have to stop because the other half was never formed. On a good day, if I form half a sentence, by the time I get to the end of that half, I will have formed the other half so it will come out as once complete sentence but on bad days I really struggle to form proper sentences. I suppose considering this is typed that I’d be able to edit it as I’m going so you may not see the mistakes because I fixed them.

My family doesn’t accept my depression. It ranges from you’re an embarrassment to us/you can get over it - to - depression doesn’t exist. As a result I don’t tell my family anything. Unfortunately, my family are also nurses which means they work at the local hospital.

As a result of that, I can’t really go to the hospital because my sister might be working on triage at the emergency room. Showing up with no physical issues and having to explain I’m having self-harm/suicidal thoughts is hardly going to go over well. On top of that, the last time I went to a hospital, the nurse just told me I was attention seeking and to get over it. She also labelled me as manipulative.

To have that said about you only makes you question why should you even bother if they’re not going to take you seriously. For the most part, I don’t hold back. I don’t see the point. My family has always been the notable exception to the rule.

After trying 5 different antidepressants(4 at least haven’t worked. Never really got to give the 5th a proper go), speaking to multiple psychologists and psychiatrists, having being hospitalized multiple times and having tried to commit suicide twice and STILL being depressed for over a decade. I’m starting to wonder whether I will be like this for the rest of my life.

I don’t want to be but I feel like nothing has helped, nothing has ever given me any help. The closest I’ve managed to get to “help” was sleeping. I feel like no one takes anything I say seriously except when I say I’m having thoughts of self-harm or suicide. I say how bad I feel and all I get is a referral to a doctor or a script for another medication.

How many times do you repeat the cycle until you just give up from failure? I’ve mentioned countless times to countless people about my sleep issues but no one considers it serious. It just gets lumped as a side effect of depression despite the fact I had sleep issues before I was depressed.

At what point do you just stop mentioning things? At what point do you just stop asking for help? I can’t help but think it would be better if I just checked out of life, out of reality and just vanished from society. I’ve thought about that before.

Well it’s 8.05pm now so I guess at some point int he next few hours I’ll pass out and sleep. That’s at least something of a mercy to look forward to. I can only pray tomorrow is better.

I wasn’t raised with any religion or anything so pretty much everything in the bible is new to me. Coming at it from a logical, non-religious perspective I’ve found fascinating. It started as a quest to try and find hope again. Just it became a bit more than just finding hope.

As a result, one of the first books I read was Ecclesiastes. I found the author, probably King Solomon relate-able. Especially when he talks about things being meaningless because that’s how I feel. I understand he found a way to see life as not meaningless by the end. I wish I knew how. I’d be willing to try anything to have some hope again. To have a spark of light when I am my most depressed. To have an anchor to life when I want to kill myself.

I don’t think I have anything else I want to rant about. If I do, depending on whether it’s big or small, I might just appended it here, do a short tweet thread or start a whole new post. But anyway I guess I’m done here.

#blog #rant #depression #self-harn #suicide #welfare #politics #government #ideology #conservative #religion #purpose #emotions #feelings #medications #antidepressants #family #stress

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kristinsimmons · 4 years

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The future of dentistry is functional. Here’s why.

Dentistry is not separate from medicine

Diet & lifestyle

Periodontal disease & chronic disease

The oral microbiome

Sleep & airway health

How functional dentistry offers hope

Benefits of a functional dentist

Principles of functional dentistry

Are you ready for the future?

One of the worst mistakes ever made in healthcare was the separation of “medicine” and “dentistry”.

Fortunately, patients — and dentists — are changing this paradigm.

The practice of functional dentistry, which honors the mouth-body connection and takes a root cause approach to dental health, is in high demand.

As people learn the integral connection between their oral and overall health, they are seeking an answer they can’t find in the average dental office.

Dentists who take a functional approach to patient care are the cutting edge of modern dental care.

To succeed in dental practice, functional dentistry will soon become not just a “niche” specialty, but a necessity.

I see it every day — my team receives hundreds of emails, DMs, and comments each week from patients desperately seeking a functional dentist in their area.

Dentistry is Not Separate from Medicine

Our insurance plans, regulations, and education may be strictly separated, but dentists and medical doctors are treating interconnected parts of the same person.

The body simply has no “closed systems” that can be addressed without considering the rest of the body.

Most significantly: A functional approach to health is likely to improve overall health, while an unhealthy lifestyle will most certainly lead to disease throughout the body over time.

So, what are some of the most common examples of the entanglement of oral and overall health?

Diet & Lifestyle Habits

The most obvious way that oral and overall health are connected is the way they are impacted by your diet and lifestyle.

The same dietary patterns associated with higher rates of chronic disease are also a root cause of cavities.

Smoking is not just a leading cause of oral cancer, but also cataracts, rheumatoid arthritis, birth defects, and diabetes.

A sedentary lifestyle won’t just lead to an increased risk of heart disease and obesity; it’s also bad for your oral health.

Your diet and lifestyle impact absolutely every part of your health, from the brain to the toes.

Periodontal Disease & Chronic Disease

Periodontal disease (gum disease or periodontitis) is one of the most common dental diseases, impacting almost half of all adults in the US and over 70% of adults over the age of 65.

Some functional dentists have suggested that periodontal disease is an autoimmune disorder.

Similar to other autoimmune issues, the body’s immune response (in the form of inflammation) actually hurts the body and damages healthy cells. This may happen specifically as an autoimmune response to collagen.

Autoimmune responses and chronic inflammation aren’t limited to the gums. If you develop periodontitis, your risk of many other chronic diseases skyrocket.

Periodontitis is associated with the following chronic diseases:

Type 2 diabetes

Rheumatoid arthritis

Osteoporosis

Coronary heart disease (CHD)

Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Pneumonia

Parkinson’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease

Psoriasis

Respiratory infections

Allergies

Endocrine disorders

2019 research suggests that gum disease may be a causative factor of Alzheimer’s.

Learn More: Can gingivitis cause Alzheimer’s disease?

The Oral Microbiome

The human microbiome is home to up to 100 trillion microbes, many of these found in the gut.

Few people are unaware of how very important the microbiome is, particularly for a healthy immune system.

But the oral microbiome, the second most diverse of the body’s biomes and containing about 45% of the same bacteria strains as the gut, is a system many people have never even heard of.

A dysbiosis (imbalance) of the bacteria in the oral microbiome is associated with conditions such as:

Inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis)

Cirrhosis of the liver

Certain types of cancer

H. pylori infection

Rheumatoid arthritis

Atherosclerosis (which causes cardiovascular disease)

Type 2 diabetes

Adverse pregnancy outcomes (miscarriage, preterm birth, low birth weight, etc.)

PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome)

Obesity

Sleep & Airway Health

During sleep, the body repairs and restores itself.

However, poor airway position and sleep-disordered breathing (including sleep apnea) can rob you of the benefits of restful sleep.

These same problems may also lead to worsened dental health by causing dry mouth and/or weakening your immune system.

Your dentist can spot telltale signs of sleep and airway problems up to a decade before your medical doctor can. The most well-known of these is bruxism (teeth grinding).

Without a comprehensive healthcare team of both functionally-minded doctors and dentists, those crucial years can be lost.

Consequences of poor sleep over time range from obesity to the risk of heart disease or diabetes, to depression.

How Functional Dentistry Offers Hope

Functional dentistry takes an approach to oral health that does not simply focus on getting rid of symptoms, like cavities or gum disease but gets to the root cause of your problems.

Some of these root causes may be somewhat obvious — like a diet full of candy. Others, though, aren’t obvious to the general observer.

Root causes of oral disease that a functional dentist may address with you include:

Mouth breathing

Antibacterial mouthwash and toothpaste

Chronic inflammation

Microbiome dysbiosis (of the gut and oral microbiome)

Improper facial development

Acidic pH levels in the mouth

Side effects of pharmaceutical medications

A diet devoid of nutrient-dense foods and rich in empty carbohydrates and processed foods

nutritional deficiencies

Chronic stress

Sleep apnea or other sleep disorders

After 33+ years of dental practice, I can attest to the fact that when patients address these root causes, their symptoms abate and their overall health improves.

View this post on Instagram

When was the last time you had a whole-body conversation with your dentist?   ⁣ ⁣ Functional means addressing the root cause of disease. To learn more, whether as a patient or a practitioner, I highly recommend you follow some of the pioneers of functional medicine @drmarkhyman @instituteforfxmed @drkarafitzgerald   ⁣ ⁣ Dental health impacts every other system in the body, which is why we can’t achieve great health without it. You need a dentist who thinks this way, otherwise you could be on a path toward chronic illness, like nearly half of the US population.  ⁣ ⁣ Systemic diseases, like diabetes and heart disease, will show themselves first in the mouth—sometimes decades before they fully manifest systemically. If you’re seeing a functional dentist, you’ll get alerted to that earlier, and fixing it will be easier and more preventative.  ⁣ ⁣ Head to the Functional Dentist Locator on my website (link in bio), a free tool to get connected with a dentist who doesn’t just do fillings, but also works with the nutritional, lifestyle, and other root causes behind tooth decay.  I’m on a mission to connect anyone who wants one with a functional dentist in their area. If you don’t find a functional dentist in your area, send me a DM and I’ll help you find someone.

A post shared by Dr. Mark Burhenne (@askthedentist) on Jul 9, 2020 at 9:50pm PDT

Benefits of Seeing a Functional Dentist

As you can see, a functional dentist should be an integral part of your healthcare team. But this form of dental practice is also beneficial in other ways.

Quality Time

As a functional dentist, time spent with my patients is vitally important to their health success. We talk about what they eat, how their lifestyle has changed, the quality of their sleep, and more.

A traditional dentist might spend a few moments beside your chair, while a functional dentist spends truly quality time with each patient.

Plus, most functional dentists see a small fraction of the patients that a traditional dentist sees. You are at a far lower risk of being just another patient ID number to your healthcare provider.

A Lifetime of Savings

The number one complaint people have about functionally-minded dentists — and all dentists, really — is the cost.

Many functional dentists don’t accept dental insurance and only perform services of a higher, more expensive quality than a traditional dentist.

However, this is a shortsighted concern.

By working with a functional dentist to improve your oral and overall health by getting to the root cause of your problems, you may save untold thousands of dollars in future medical costs. Yes, it may cost more initially, but the benefits in the long-term are well worth it.

Quality of Life

Modern humans have extended our lifespans by decades beyond many of our ancient ancestors.

Sadly, this coincides with the rampant spread of chronic lifestyle diseases that impact an overwhelming number of people throughout the world. This leads to millions of sick, tired, miserable people… that live a few years longer.

But by addressing the root causes of your dental issues — which are likely behind some systemic issues as well — your quality of life can grow exponentially.

The Principles of Functional Dentistry

Each dentist in my Functional Dentist Locator agrees to a set of principles that define the way we work with our patients.

Functional Dentistry goes beyond treating the signs and symptoms of our patients by determining how and why illness occurs and restoring health by addressing the root cause of dental disease.

Functional Dentistry aims to teach patients prevention strategies to help them avoid the need for future dental work.

Functional Dentistry recognizes the importance of the oral microbiome in both dental and whole-body health, and as such, discourages the use of antimicrobial mouthwashes and toothpastes.

Functional Dentistry recognizes the ability of enamel to remineralize on its own, and as such, educates patients on diet and nutrition strategies in order to maximize this natural remineralization process and avoid the most prevalent oral disease: caries and periodontal disease.

Functional Dentistry works closely with colleagues in a variety of fields, including sleep medicine, myofunctional therapy, integrative specialties, and functional orthodontics, in order to restore dental health, because the mouth does not exist in a vacuum and partnership with a patient’s multiple healthcare providers results in the best outcome.

Functional Dentistry practices early intervention in pediatric patients because it recognizes the importance of craniofacial complex and its contribution to overall health.

Functional Dentistry embraces the latest scientific research, as we continue to better understand the mouth-body connection and the relationships between dental disease and diseases of the rest of the body. As “forever students” of the latest discoveries in the mouth-body connection, we are able to provide the best root-cause care for our patients.

Functional Dentistry works to understand the impact of inflammation in the mouth and its impacts on inflammation throughout the rest of the body.

Functional dentistry is not just removing our patients’ symptoms; it’s enabling our patients to thrive.

Are you ready for the future?

As you can see, a root cause approach is the most cutting-edge, patient-first approach to dental health available to us today.

Don’t stay sick and tired. Don’t be left behind. Find a functional dentist and start living in the future, now.

Are you a patient seeking a trustworthy functional dentist in your area? Search my Functional Dentist Locator today.

Are you a functional dentist who wants to connect with patients who want your root cause approach to treatment? Join the Functional Dentist Locator and sign up for my free newsletter for dental professionals.

25 References

Raju, P., George, R., Ramesh, S. V., Arvind, H., Baskaran, M., & Vijaya, L. (2006). Influence of tobacco use on cataract development. British journal of ophthalmology, 90(11), 1374-1377. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1857475/

Hutchinson, D., Shepstone, L., Moots, R., Lear, J. T., & Lynch, M. P. (2001). Heavy cigarette smoking is strongly associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), particularly in patients without a family history of RA. Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 60(3), 223-227. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1753588/

Chang, S. A. (2012). Smoking and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes & metabolism journal, 36(6), 399-403. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3530709/

Sheiham, A., & Watt, R. G. (2000). The common risk factor approach: a rational basis for promoting oral health. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology: Commentary, 28(6), 399-406. Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11106011/

Hirsch, H. Z., Tarkowski, A., Miller, E. J., Gay, S., Koopman, W. J., & Mestecky, J. (1988). Autoimmunity to collagen in adult periodontal disease. Journal of Oral Pathology & Medicine, 17(9‐10), 456-459. Abstract: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1600-0714.1988.tb01315.x

Taylor, G. W., Manz, M. C., & Borgnakke, W. S. (2004). Diabetes, periodontal diseases, dental caries, and tooth loss: a review of the literature. Compendium of continuing education in dentistry (Jamesburg, NJ: 1995), 25(3), 179. Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15641324/

Bahekar, A. A., Singh, S., Saha, S., Molnar, J., & Arora, R. (2007). The prevalence and incidence of coronary heart disease is significantly increased in periodontitis: a meta-analysis. American heart journal, 154(5), 830-837. Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17967586/

Holmstrup, P., Damgaard, C., Olsen, I., Klinge, B., Flyvbjerg, A., Nielsen, C. H., & Hansen, P. R. (2017). Comorbidity of periodontal disease: two sides of the same coin? An introduction for the clinician. Journal of oral microbiology, 9(1), 1332710. Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5508374/

Sperr, M., Kundi, M., Tursic, V., Bristela, M., Moritz, A., Andrukhov, O., … & Sperr, W. R. (2018). Prevalence of comorbidities in periodontitis patients compared with the general Austrian population. Journal of periodontology, 89(1), 19-27. Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28844189/

Dominy, S. S., Lynch, C., Ermini, F., Benedyk, M., Marczyk, A., Konradi, A., … & Holsinger, L. J. (2019). Porphyromonas gingivalis in Alzheimer’s disease brains: Evidence for disease causation and treatment with small-molecule inhibitors. Science advances, 5(1), eaau3333. Full text: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/1/eaau3333

Ursell, L. K., Metcalf, J. L., Parfrey, L. W., & Knight, R. (2012). Defining the human microbiome. Nutrition reviews, 70(suppl_1), S38-S44. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3426293/

Cass Nelson-Dooley, M. S., & Olmstead, S. F. (2015). The Microbiome and Overall Health Part 5: The Oropharyngeal Microbiota’s Far-Reaching Role in Immunity, Gut Health, and Cardiovascular Disease. Full text: https://www.drkarafitzgerald.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2015-Oral-Microbiome-Nelson-Dooley-Olmstead.pdf

Caballero, S., & Pamer, E. G. (2015). Microbiota-mediated inflammation and antimicrobial defense in the intestine. Annual review of immunology, 33, 227-256. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4540477/

Meurman, J. H. (2010). Oral microbiota and cancer. Journal of oral microbiology, 2(1), 5195. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3084564/

Zou, Q. H., & Li, R. Q. (2011). Helicobacter pylori in the oral cavity and gastric mucosa: a meta‐analysis. Journal of oral pathology & medicine, 40(4), 317-324. Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21294774/

Zhang, X., Zhang, D., Jia, H., Feng, Q., Wang, D., Liang, D., … & Lan, Z. (2015). The oral and gut microbiomes are perturbed in rheumatoid arthritis and partly normalized after treatment. Nature medicine, 21(8), 895-905. Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26214836/

Slocum, C., Kramer, C., & Genco, C. A. (2016). Immune dysregulation mediated by the oral microbiome: potential link to chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis. Journal of internal medicine, 280(1), 114-128. Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26791914/

Casarin, R. C. V., Barbagallo, A., Meulman, T., Santos, V. R., Sallum, E. A., Nociti, F. H., … & Gonçalves, R. B. (2013). Subgingival biodiversity in subjects with uncontrolled type‐2 diabetes and chronic periodontitis. Journal of periodontal research, 48(1), 30-36. Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22762355/

Han, Y. W., Shen, T., Chung, P., Buhimschi, I. A., & Buhimschi, C. S. (2009). Uncultivated bacteria as etiologic agents of intra-amniotic inflammation leading to preterm birth. Journal of clinical microbiology, 47(1), 38-47. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2620857/

Lindheim, L., Bashir, M., Münzker, J., Trummer, C., Zachhuber, V., Pieber, T. R., … & Obermayer-Pietsch, B. (2016). The salivary microbiome in polycystic ovary syndrome (pcos) and its association with disease-related parameters: a pilot study. Frontiers in microbiology, 7, 1270. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4996828/

Goodson, J. M., Groppo, D., Halem, S., & Carpino, E. (2009). Is obesity an oral bacterial disease?. Journal of dental research, 88(6), 519-523. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2744897/

Cappuccio, F. P., Taggart, F. M., Kandala, N. B., Currie, A., Peile, E., Stranges, S., & Miller, M. A. (2008). Meta-analysis of short sleep duration and obesity in children and adults. Sleep, 31(5), 619-626. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2398753/

Cappuccio, F. P., Cooper, D., D’Elia, L., Strazzullo, P., & Miller, M. A. (2011). Sleep duration predicts cardiovascular outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. European heart journal, 32(12), 1484-1492. Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21300732/

Gottlieb, D. J., Punjabi, N. M., Newman, A. B., Resnick, H. E., Redline, S., Baldwin, C. M., & Nieto, F. J. (2005). Association of sleep time with diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance. Archives of internal medicine, 165(8), 863-867. Full text: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/486518

Hayley, A. C., Williams, L. J., Venugopal, K., Kennedy, G. A., Berk, M., & Pasco, J. A. (2015). The relationships between insomnia, sleep apnoea and depression: findings from the American National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005–2008. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 49(2), 156-170. Abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25128225/

The post The future of dentistry is functional. Here’s why. appeared first on Ask the Dentist.

The future of dentistry is functional. Here’s why. published first on https://wittooth.tumblr.com/

0 notes

dentalinfotoday · 4 years

Link

Dentistry is not separate from medicine

Diet & lifestyle

Periodontal disease & chronic disease

The oral microbiome

Sleep & airway health

How functional dentistry offers hope

Benefits of a functional dentist

Principles of functional dentistry

Are you ready for the future?

One of the worst mistakes ever made in healthcare was the separation of “medicine” and “dentistry”.

Fortunately, patients — and dentists — are changing this paradigm.

The practice of functional dentistry, which honors the mouth-body connection and takes a root cause approach to dental health, is in high demand.

As people learn the integral connection between their oral and overall health, they are seeking an answer they can’t find in the average dental office.

Dentists who take a functional approach to patient care are the cutting edge of modern dental care.

To succeed in dental practice, functional dentistry will soon become not just a “niche” specialty, but a necessity.

I see it every day — my team receives hundreds of emails, DMs, and comments each week from patients desperately seeking a functional dentist in their area.

Dentistry is Not Separate from Medicine

Our insurance plans, regulations, and education may be strictly separated, but dentists and medical doctors are treating interconnected parts of the same person.

The body simply has no “closed systems” that can be addressed without considering the rest of the body.

Most significantly: A functional approach to health is likely to improve overall health, while an unhealthy lifestyle will most certainly lead to disease throughout the body over time.

So, what are some of the most common examples of the entanglement of oral and overall health?

Diet & Lifestyle Habits

The most obvious way that oral and overall health are connected is the way they are impacted by your diet and lifestyle.

The same dietary patterns associated with higher rates of chronic disease are also a root cause of cavities.

Smoking is not just a leading cause of oral cancer, but also cataracts, rheumatoid arthritis, birth defects, and diabetes.

A sedentary lifestyle won’t just lead to an increased risk of heart disease and obesity; it’s also bad for your oral health.

Your diet and lifestyle impact absolutely every part of your health, from the brain to the toes.

Periodontal Disease & Chronic Disease

Periodontal disease (gum disease or periodontitis) is one of the most common dental diseases, impacting almost half of all adults in the US and over 70% of adults over the age of 65.

Some functional dentists have suggested that periodontal disease is an autoimmune disorder.

Autoimmune responses and chronic inflammation aren’t limited to the gums. If you develop periodontitis, your risk of many other chronic diseases skyrocket.

Periodontitis is associated with the following chronic diseases:

Type 2 diabetes

Rheumatoid arthritis

Osteoporosis

Coronary heart disease (CHD)

Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Pneumonia

Parkinson’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease

Psoriasis

Respiratory infections

Allergies

Endocrine disorders

2019 research suggests that gum disease may be a causative factor of Alzheimer’s.

Learn More: Can gingivitis cause Alzheimer’s disease?

The Oral Microbiome

The human microbiome is home to up to 100 trillion microbes, many of these found in the gut.

Few people are unaware of how very important the microbiome is, particularly for a healthy immune system.

But the oral microbiome, the second most diverse of the body’s biomes and containing about 45% of the same bacteria strains as the gut, is a system many people have never even heard of.

A dysbiosis (imbalance) of the bacteria in the oral microbiome is associated with conditions such as:

Inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis)

Cirrhosis of the liver

Certain types of cancer

H. pylori infection

Rheumatoid arthritis

Atherosclerosis (which causes cardiovascular disease)

Type 2 diabetes

Adverse pregnancy outcomes (miscarriage, preterm birth, low birth weight, etc.)

PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome)

Obesity

Sleep & Airway Health

During sleep, the body repairs and restores itself.

However, poor airway position and sleep-disordered breathing (including sleep apnea) can rob you of the benefits of restful sleep.

These same problems may also lead to worsened dental health by causing dry mouth and/or weakening your immune system.

Your dentist can spot telltale signs of sleep and airway problems up to a decade before your medical doctor can. The most well-known of these is bruxism (teeth grinding).

Without a comprehensive healthcare team of both functionally-minded doctors and dentists, those crucial years can be lost.

Consequences of poor sleep over time range from obesity to the risk of heart disease or diabetes, to depression.

How Functional Dentistry Offers Hope

Functional dentistry takes an approach to oral health that does not simply focus on getting rid of symptoms, like cavities or gum disease but gets to the root cause of your problems.

Some of these root causes may be somewhat obvious — like a diet full of candy. Others, though, aren’t obvious to the general observer.

Root causes of oral disease that a functional dentist may address with you include:

Mouth breathing

Antibacterial mouthwash and toothpaste

Chronic inflammation

Microbiome dysbiosis (of the gut and oral microbiome)

Improper facial development

Acidic pH levels in the mouth

Side effects of pharmaceutical medications

A diet devoid of nutrient-dense foods and rich in empty carbohydrates and processed foods

nutritional deficiencies

Chronic stress

Sleep apnea or other sleep disorders

After 33+ years of dental practice, I can attest to the fact that when patients address these root causes, their symptoms abate and their overall health improves.

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A post shared by Dr. Mark Burhenne (@askthedentist) on Jul 9, 2020 at 9:50pm PDT

Benefits of Seeing a Functional Dentist

As you can see, a functional dentist should be an integral part of your healthcare team. But this form of dental practice is also beneficial in other ways.

Quality Time

As a functional dentist, time spent with my patients is vitally important to their health success. We talk about what they eat, how their lifestyle has changed, the quality of their sleep, and more.

A traditional dentist might spend a few moments beside your chair, while a functional dentist spends truly quality time with each patient.

Plus, most functional dentists see a small fraction of the patients that a traditional dentist sees. You are at a far lower risk of being just another patient ID number to your healthcare provider.

A Lifetime of Savings

The number one complaint people have about functionally-minded dentists — and all dentists, really — is the cost.

Many functional dentists don’t accept dental insurance and only perform services of a higher, more expensive quality than a traditional dentist.

However, this is a shortsighted concern.

Quality of Life

Modern humans have extended our lifespans by decades beyond many of our ancient ancestors.

But by addressing the root causes of your dental issues — which are likely behind some systemic issues as well — your quality of life can grow exponentially.

The Principles of Functional Dentistry

Each dentist in my Functional Dentist Locator agrees to a set of principles that define the way we work with our patients.

Functional Dentistry goes beyond treating the signs and symptoms of our patients by determining how and why illness occurs and restoring health by addressing the root cause of dental disease.

Functional Dentistry aims to teach patients prevention strategies to help them avoid the need for future dental work.

Functional Dentistry recognizes the importance of the oral microbiome in both dental and whole-body health, and as such, discourages the use of antimicrobial mouthwashes and toothpastes.

Functional Dentistry practices early intervention in pediatric patients because it recognizes the importance of craniofacial complex and its contribution to overall health.

Functional Dentistry works to understand the impact of inflammation in the mouth and its impacts on inflammation throughout the rest of the body.

Functional dentistry is not just removing our patients’ symptoms; it’s enabling our patients to thrive.

Are you ready for the future?

As you can see, a root cause approach is the most cutting-edge, patient-first approach to dental health available to us today.

Don’t stay sick and tired. Don’t be left behind. Find a functional dentist and start living in the future, now.

Are you a patient seeking a trustworthy functional dentist in your area? Search my Functional Dentist Locator today.

25 References

Chang, S. A. (2012). Smoking and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes & metabolism journal, 36(6), 399-403. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3530709/

Meurman, J. H. (2010). Oral microbiota and cancer. Journal of oral microbiology, 2(1), 5195. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3084564/

The post The future of dentistry is functional. Here’s why. appeared first on Ask the Dentist.

from Ask the Dentist https://askthedentist.com/future-dentistry-is-functional/

#Dentistry #Blog

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jakehglover · 6 years

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Are the Elderly Really Taking Too Many Vitamins?

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By Dr. Mercola

The conventional view of dietary supplements is, for the most part, predictably negative. The New York Times recently offered a perfect demonstration of this view in its April 3 article, “Older Americans Are ‘Hooked’ on Vitamins.”1 In this interview, Dr. Andrew Saul, editor-in-chief of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service and author of “Doctor Yourself: Natural Healing That Works” and “Fire Your Doctor: How To Be Independently Healthy,” breaks down the myths and inaccuracies presented in that article.

While drug overdoses are currently killing 63,000 Americans each year — with opioids being responsible for nearly 50,000 of them and being a leading cause of death for Americans under 50 — the media is still pretending that people getting “hooked” on vitamins is a dangerous trend.

“The funny thing is that for those who are hooked on opioids, high doses of vitamin C had been shown — in two really good studies — to enable people to get off opioids without withdrawal symptoms, or greatly reduced withdrawal symptoms. Being hooked on vitamin C would actually help you get unhooked from heroin,” Saul notes.

Vitamin C — A Powerful Healer

Vitamin C is actually a very important and powerful detoxifier. In addition to helping you detox from drugs, this is also something to remember when you’re seeing a dentist. If you’re taking large doses of vitamin C, you may need a larger dose of anesthetic, as your body will break the drug down faster. On the other hand, loading up on vitamin C prior to a dental appointment will also quicken healing, sealing the gums faster, and reduce both bleeding and pain.

“If you have a tooth extraction or a root canal or anything that’s really invasive, vitamin C is the dentist’s best friend, because nothing makes gums stronger and quicker than vitamin C. Not only oral vitamin C; you can even take nonacidic vitamin C, such as calcium ascorbate, magnesium ascorbate or sodium ascorbate and put that right on the gums.

You can even put it right on the socket. People who have dry sockets or extended bleeding, when they use vitamin C topically — not ascorbic acid, mind you, but nonacidic C topically — they get immediate relief. It was Dr. Hugh Riordan at the now-famous Riordan Clinic who brought some of this forward decades ago. It’s good advice,” Saul says.

Do Seniors Need Vitamin Supplements?

Getting back to that New York Times article, “The Times has laid-off or fired a very large number of copyeditors … They wanted to save money, so they eliminated the copydesk. They got rid of about 100 copyeditors … In my opinion, this article is a good example of a piece that should have been properly copyedited and fact-checked, and wasn't,” Saul says.

For example, it mentions that studies have linked high-dose vitamin E with a higher risk of prostate cancer. In reality, a single study found a very small, and possibly questionable, increase in prostate cancer among people in that particular study. Importantly, the study in question used synthetic vitamin E, not the natural E. They also used fairly low dosages.

The salient point here is that there are studies looking at natural vitamin E, using all four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. These studies were not quoted, even though two such studies show tocotrienols — specifically gamma tocotrienol — actually prevent prostate cancer2 and even kill prostate cancer stem cells.3

These are the cells from which prostate cancer actually develops. They are, or quickly become, chemotherapy-resistant. Yet, natural vitamin E complex is able to kill these stem cells. Mice given oral gamma-tocotrienol had an astonishing 75 percent decrease in tumor formation.

A third study4 found gamma-tocotrienol was also effective against existing prostate tumors by modulating cell growth and the apoptosis (cell death) response. “Now, that has got to be newsworthy. The New York Times decided that's news not fit to print,” Saul says.

Are Seniors Really Getting All the Nutrients They Need From Their Diet?

The New York Times article also states that older Americans get plenty of essential nutrients in their diet, and that the Western diet is not short on vitamins. “This is demonstrably nonsense,” Saul says, adding “The elderly tend to have poor diets in general, especially those who live alone or are institutionalized.” There are a number of reasons for this, including:

The elderly tend to have poor appetite due to higher rates of depression

As people get older, their sense of smell and, therefore, their sense of taste, diminishes

The elderly rarely drink enough water, as the sense of thirst diminishes with age

As noted by Saul, “If they're not eating proper meals because they're sad, depressed or lonely, or they're just getting mediocre care, then they can't possibly get enough nutrients — because even the paltry amount of nutrients in an American diet is not there if you don't even eat the American diet.”

Most Seniors Are Deficient in B12, Magnesium and Vitamin D

Your body’s ability to absorb B12 also diminishes significantly with age, and Alzheimer’s symptoms are in fact extremely similar to the symptoms of severe B12 deficiency. Many clinicians would likely have a hard time distinguishing between the two.

“If B12 absorption is poor, and if the elderly are not eating proper meals, the amount of B12 in an older person is going to be low. For the article to say that it’s an abundant nutrient for the elderly is absolutely not true,” Saul says. There’s also ample evidence showing most soils are depleted of nutrients, which has led to lower nutrient values in whole foods. So, while Americans are not deficient in calories, many are indeed deficient in crucial nutrients.

“Dr. Abram Hoffer asked me years ago to write a paper on, ‘Can supplements take the place of a good diet?’ My comment was, ‘Well, they’re going to have to.’ Because people eat such lousy diets. If they're going to eat lousy diets, it's better to have a lousy diet and take supplements than to have a lousy diet without supplements. The solution, really, is to have a really good diet.

But I don’t have to tell you what a hospital diet looks like, or what a nursing home diet looks like. You don’t have to tell me what a school lunch diet looks like. These are really poor meals. You have exactly the wrong nutrients in abundance — the calorie nutrients. And then you have a dearth of the micronutrients.

One more thing: the article talks about how there’s an abundance of nutrients and everybody gets enough. With the mineral magnesium, if you look over decades of studies, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey studies and all kinds of very large-scale studies of what people eat, magnesium deficiency is probably the most common mineral deficiency in the United States. Almost no Americans get the U.S. recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of magnesium …

The other one is vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is so prevalent in the elderly that half of the people hospitalized for hip fractures are demonstrably and measurably vitamin D-deficient. What’s really interesting is that the article says taking extra calcium did not help fractures. That’s not the point. It’s extra vitamin D and vitamin K that help put the calcium where it needs to be. They didn’t mention that.”

The Importance of Magnesium

Saul cites a Blue Cross Blue Shield study showing that seniors who took vitamin D supplements not only had fewer fractures, but they didn’t fall as often. “Vitamin D actually helps prevent the fracture by preventing falling,” Saul says. Magnesium deficiency is also problematic as it plays an important role in heart health and muscle function.

Magnesium may also help protect your body against the ravages of electrical pollution. Electromagnetic fields (EMFs), which are pervasive everywhere these days, cause oxidative damage similar to that of smoking. Magnesium acts as a calcium-channel blocker, which appears to be one of the primary mechanisms through which EMFs cause oxidative stress. Hence, having enough magnesium in your body may be protective.

Types of Magnesium and Advice on Dosage

When it comes to oral magnesium supplementation, there’s the issue of it having a laxative effect, which can upset your microbiome. One simple solution to this is to take regular Epsom salts baths. It’s a good way to relax sore muscles, and your body will absorb the magnesium transdermally, meaning through your skin, bypassing your gastrointestinal tract altogether.

The worst form of magnesium, in terms of absorbability, is magnesium oxide, which incidentally is also the most common form available to consumers. Better alternatives include magnesium gluconate, magnesium citrate or magnesium chloride, the latter of which has the greatest absorbability of the three.

Two of my personal favorites are magnesium malate (malic acid) and magnesium threonate. Magnesium malate is a Krebs cycle intermediate and may help increase adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production, while magnesium threonate has been shown to effectively penetrate the blood-brain barrier. So, for brain benefits, threonate appears to be preferable.

“If you take magnesium in small divided doses, you’re less likely to disturb your belly,” Saul says. “Some people don’t need to take a lot of extra magnesium; others do. It’s really a matter of [doing] a therapeutic trial. I would start small. Take your magnesium between meals and see when you feel better. It’s simply a matter of trial and error …

It was Dr. Richard Passwater who first brought that idea to me in the late ‘70s, in his wonderful book ‘Super-Nutrition: Megavitamin Revolution.’ He said, ‘To determine your dose of nutrients as you want to supplement with, start taking them and see if you feel better. If you do, take a little more. If you’re feeling still better, then use the higher dose. If you don’t feel any better, go to the lower dose that gets the most results.

I just love that. It’s so simple. We can all do this, and should. That doesn’t mean you’re hooked on vitamins, folks. It means that you’re an intelligent human being. How intelligent? Well, at least half of all Americans are taking vitamins every day. With the elderly, it may be as high as two-thirds. I have heard, unofficially, that among physicians, 3 out of 4 doctors take supplements regularly. They just don’t talk about it.”

When I was still practicing, intravenous magnesium was one of the minerals I regularly used for acute migraines, infections and asthma attacks. In high doses, magnesium has a very potent vasodilatory effect. In fact, if administered too quickly, it’s almost like a niacin flush. But it was profoundly effective for aborting migraines and asthma attacks, and rapidly resolved coughs and colds. Magnesium will also help prevent and/or ease menstrual cramps.

Does Beta-Carotene Cause Cancer?

The New York Times also revisited the age-old myth that beta-carotene causes cancer. This fallacy is based on research from the 1990s that found a certain population of men in Finland, when given 20 milligrams of beta-carotene a day — the equivalent found in two or three carrots — had a very small but widely touted increase in cancer.

What is regularly not mentioned is the fact that they were heavy smokers, and the treatment group had been smoking a year longer than the controls. The patients also were not prescreened to see if they had any precancerous conditions.

“People say to me, ‘Beta-carotene can cause cancer.’ No. Smoking causes cancer. ‘Beta-carotene can be harmful.’ No. Cigarettes are harmful. SMOKING is what’s harmful to smokers. The problem, folks, is not the carrots,” Saul says. Another significant variable that may have played a role is the fact that they used synthetic beta-carotene.

“The study is a bad study. Therefore, The New York Times should know better than to quote it. They not only quote it, they kind of misquote it because they don't use the word ‘smoker,’” Saul says. “If you're hooked on cigarettes, you're going to have problems. If you're hooked on vitamins, you're not.

This brings us to the fundamental question of what kills and what wastes money. Consumer Reports estimates that $200 billion a year is spent on incorrect harmful medication. The entire food supplement industry worldwide is one-fifth of that, at most. We are wasting huge amounts on giving drugs that are harmful and complaining about the people who are doing good preventive care and taking their vitamins.”

Supplements Versus Drugs — What’s More Dangerous?

Saul also notes that Harvard School of Public Health has assessed the role of drugs in deaths at great depth. When properly prescribed and taken as directed, the lowest estimated death toll from pharmaceutical drugs is still around 85,000 people a year. The high estimate is around 135,000 people annually, while the generally accepted estimate is about 106,000 people a year.

That’s 106,000 dead Americans every year from properly prescribed drugs, not medical errors; drugs taken as directed, not overdose. That means that each decade, “normal” side effects of drugs are killing about 1 million people in the U.S.

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC), which has been tracking this information for over three decades, there have been 13 alleged deaths from vitamins in 31 years. However, Saul notes, “My team looked into this and we could not find substantiation, documentation, proof or convincing evidence of one single death … from vitamins in the last 31 years.” In most cases, the individual was taking both drugs and vitamins.

This year, the AAPCC actually removed the vitamin category, because it’s always been zero. “Personally, I think they got tired of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service saying, ‘No deaths from vitamins. No deaths from minerals. No deaths from amino acids. No deaths from herbals. No deaths from homeopathic substances,’” Saul says.5,6

“These alternative treatments are effective. They’re safe, and they’re cheap. I want to emphasize they are safe. People are dying in our land and in our world because we’re giving them dangerous drugs. Dr. Hoffer once said, ‘Drugs make a well person sick. Why would they make a sick person well?’ …

Vitamins are not the problem. They're the solution. If we had better-nourished Americans, we'd save a pile on our $3 trillion-plus disease care bill. It's good that older Americans take supplements. I don't mean to do it foolishly. If you take a look, most people are actually smarter than we give them credit for. Taking a multivitamin for instance, especially if it's a good-quality natural multivitamin, is just a really good idea.”

Growing Your Own Food Is Part of the Solution

As a general rule, most Americans are not getting enough vitamins, minerals and micronutrients from their foods, in large part thanks to the prevalence of processed foods. Dietary supplements, especially if your diet is largely processed, is generally advisable. In the long term, growing more nutrient-dense food is a big part of the answer.

Garden-grown organic vegetables and fruits are nutrient-rich and represent the freshest produce available. Growing your own crops not only improves your diet, but it also:

Enhances and protects precious topsoil

Encourages composting, which can be used to feed and nourish your plants

Minimizes your exposure to synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and other toxins

Promotes biodiversity by creating a natural habitat for animals, birds, insects and other living organisms

Improves your fitness level, mood and sense of well-being, making gardening a form of exercise

While gardens have many benefits, the most important reason you should plant a garden (especially given the many issues associated with industrial agriculture) is because gardening helps create a more sustainable global food system, giving you and others access to fresh, healthy, nutrient-dense food. If you are new to gardening and unsure about where to start, consider sprouts.

Sprouts are an easy-to-grow, but often overlooked, superfood with a superior nutritional profile. You can grow sprouts even if you don’t have an outdoor garden, and you should consider them if you live in an apartment or condo where space is limited.

“No matter where you are, there’s a way that we can [grow our own food]. We’ve been taught to be consumers of medical care instead of self-reliant people. We’ve been taught to be patients and not persons. To change this around, we have to give ourselves permission to take the power, to do what our body should have been doing all along. We’ve been misled.

I think maybe profit has a little bit to do with this. The pharmaceutical industry is making an awful lot of dough these days. I know people who take pills that cost $1,000 apiece. Don’t tell me I’m hooked on vitamins and I’m wasting my money and having expensive urine. I don’t need to hear that. I find that taking vitamins is very helpful to me, my children and my grandchildren …

For people who think they can’t, you’re wrong. You can. You can do this right away. You can eat better. One of the few free decisions we make every day is whether we will or will not exercise, whether we will or not eat this or that, whether we will or not say no to pharmaceutical drugs or over-the-counter drugs. Every single incremental advancement that you make is going to make your body happy. You’re going to see the difference. All you’ve got to do is try it.”

from HealthyLife via Jake Glover on Inoreader https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/05/27/are-the-elderly-taking-too-many-vitamins.aspx

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therealrockfather-blog · 7 years

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Los viejos vinagres

“Whoever doesn’t entertain any idle thoughts doesn’t throw any wrenches into the machinery”

Theodor Adorno, “The Meaning of working through the Past”

Chilean rock fans are wildly enthusiastic about Santiago Rock City, a festival which will take place on 29th and 30th September in Santiago with old pickled-in-vinegar names such as Guns n’ Roses, Aerosmith, The Who, Def Leppard, Marky Ramone and, L.A. Guns headlining the nostalgic party.

Nostalgia in the commodity form.

It is clearer than ever that developing countries such as Chile1 have become the favourite place for aged bands due to that diminutive enthusiasm shown by people in their own homelands. Iron Maiden, for instance, with their tour 2016 took in money $11,532,491 dollars in gross sales only in South America. In contrast they only collected $6,701,818 in North America (Canada and the US)2

The point here is that the more ignorant you are the easier to impress you become, especially by justifying entertainment for entertainment’s sake –art as a utilitarian function.

The average Chilean is timid, sceptical, short of self-esteem, herd-follower and not very creative due to the low standard educational system and the standardized production parameters. Lack of education and poor character has just ended in a gray ordinary man (very appropriate to power and large economic interests).

In a 500-point scale Chile got 220 points in literacy and 206 in numeracy, being located significantly below the average among 33 countries/economies3. Other South American nations do not differ mostly, thus it is not difficult to conclude how low people’s capacity to take part in a complex society is. Chilean economy has relied on copper exports for decades, and studies show4 that countries may become rich but no complex as a result of income based on extractive activities (which do not imply know-how). In other words, countries which are able to make products of high complexity (machines and appliances) are countries which own tacit knowledge5 and have the means to generate networks (which allow specialization) and share knowledge. Therefore, once the society has been educated and its access to an ample range of visual, auditory and dramatic expressions has been guaranteed the members of this community are able to participate in a more complex environment having the power to promote and execute higher forms of thinking.

Hard rock has never being a privilege of minorities, neither has it been a massive phenomenon such as Michael Jackson6. In many cases some hard rock/heavy metal albums have made real works of outstanding artistry. But artists, when tempted by earthly desires, vulgarize their art and enter into the dynamic of industry to become nothing but a piece of merchandise –the commodity form. Artists give up their principles by becoming part of the machine, and this series of actions –like a chewing gum masticated endlessly- wears away their oeuvre until dissolving into the status quo.

Companies do not attach importance to truth values, they just concern about how much profit they can get from record sales. Thus, artists’ anger is diluted to the category of a commercial.

Marcuse stated that “man can do more than the culture heroes and half-gods; he has solved many insoluble problems. But he also betrayed the hope and destroyed the truth which was preserved in the sublimations of higher culture” (Marcuse, 56). Yes, all comfort brought in by medical and technical development has allowed man goes through unconcerned unlike that man who, some years ago, went uncertainly thinking of if some possible firm conviction were possible in the near future7.

The best rock music was made between the 60s and the 80s, in an atmosphere absorbed by the Cold War when fear thawed in an atmosphere of hope and uncertainty. Bands existing as result of those glorious days have not disappeared as symbols of an era but their once subversive force and destructive content has been neutralized and managed (to make a profit).

Today I heard the last Venom Inc’s record –a crashing bore full of commonplaces that would stupefy Satan himself. It is not difficult to find out what these aging folk (and the machine) wish. On one hand there is a bunch of youngsters revelling in their early records waiting for a new “Welcome to Hell” while, on the other, record companies reform old names as a means to obtain financial advantages by making this bunch of aging men play rock (again) and make them believe they still can do it. Twenty years ago Steve Jobs reflected upon that: “when you’re young, you look at television and think, There’s a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that’s not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want. That’s a far more depressing thought. Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revolution! But the networks are really in business to give people what they want. It’s the truth.”8

Thus, one does not know if laughing or run away when you see Axl Rose trying to look younger with his hair dyed, James Hetfield in a “I am still can do it” attitude or Kerry King developing substantial muscles to show a more normal level of firmness. It is true also that being old today is different than it used to be twenty or thirty years ago, but the problem is, on one hand, the regeneration of the social tissue: young bands are unable to succeed the old generation, and on the other, profit and consumption –deeply rooted acts inherent to the machine- collapsing any efforts that implies reflection. Who would have imagined some years ago Chilean banks offering tickets for the Santiago Rock City Festival using their credit cards or the most conservative Chilean newspaper advertising the event? O tempora! O mores!

When Joe Corre set fire to Sex Pistols’s punk clothes and paraphernalia two years ago he stated that “punk was never meant to be nostalgic. Punk has become another marketing tool to sell you something you don’t need.”9

Luis A. Benavides

[email protected]

1 Chile has a GNI income of around $16000 US dollars per capita (World Bank, 2016).

2 Billboard magazine. Quoted by Blabbermouth.net http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/iron-maiden-northsouth-american-concert-attendances-grosses-revealed, 20th April, 2016.

3 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, “OECD Skills Studies, Skills Matter, Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills,” 2016, Snapshot of performance in literacy, numeracy and problem solving , figure 1.1, pp.24

4 Hausmann, Ricardo; Hidalgo Cesar; Bustos, Sebastián; Coscia, Michele; Chung, Sarah; Jimenez, Juan; Simoes, Alexander; Yıldırım, Muhammed A. “The Atlas of Economic Complexity – Mapping Paths to Prosperity” The MIT Press, January 2014, pp.15, 25, 27

5 Tacit knowledge refers to specific knowledge which is acquired through devote time and attention (fix dental problems, speak a foreign language, learn to compose essays). Tacit knowledge is what compels the process of growth and development. Tacit knowledge explains differences in prosperity in different countries. (Hausmann, Hidalgo et al., 16)

6Let us be very careful here. Some bands such Metallica and AC/DC have become real best sellers by softening their productions over the years (Metallica) or simply for becoming mainstream (AC/DC). See “The 50 best-selling music artists of all time” 13th

September, 2017,

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-selling-music-artists-of-all-time-2016-9/#50-phil-collins-335-million-units-1

7 “When you’re young like that and you’re partying and playing you don’t expect to live that long, not because you wanna die, it’s just that you think that this can’t possibly go on for too long” stated Motorhead’s Larry Wallis.

8Wolf, Gary. “The Next Insanely Great Thing”, Wired magazine, 1996,

https://www.wired.com/1996/02/jobs-2/ . Accessed 22nd September 20179

“Sex Pistols Manager’s Son Burns Punk Memorabilia Worth Millions.” Huffington Post, 26th November 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sex-pistols-burn-memorabilia_us_583a275ae4b01ba68ac4beae

Other sources

Marcuse, Herbert. “One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society, 2nd Edition 2nd Edition”, Beacon Press; 2nd edition , 1st October, 1991, pp. 56

#stgorockcity #futuro #punk rock #rocknroll #earache #officialthewho #aerosmith #gunsnroses #defleppard #laguns #venom_inc

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johnmauldin · 7 years

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3 Charts That Show How “Enormously Overvalued” The Average Stock Is

Last week in Outside the Box (my free newsletter for investors), Jim Mellon shared some good advice on picking stocks in the Age of the Index Fund. Jim said,

[C]ommitted investors should make a list of companies that they really like, know about, and want to own—at the right price. If the shares of those firms are too high, put in limits, possibly 20–30% below current levels, and wait. Don’t let cash burn a hole in your pocket—let the stocks come to you, and don’t chase.

Within a day of publishing Jim’s piece, my friend Vitaliy Katsenelson’s quarterly letter to clients landed in my inbox, and I thought it would make a good follow-up to Jim’s article.

Vitaliy is one of today’s most outstanding value investors. He’s the author of Active Value Investing and The Little Book of Sideways Markets.

Vitaliy leads off with a statement that many of you will resonate with: “We are having a hard time finding high-quality companies at attractive valuations.” He then lays out the case that “the average stock is overvalued somewhere between tremendously and enormously.”

So, what will make this market finally tank or plunge us into the next recession? Find it out in Vitaliy’s insightful piece below.

High-Quality Companies Today

By Vitaliy N. Katsenelson

We are having a hard time finding high-quality companies at attractive valuations.

For us, this is not an academic frustration. We are constantly looking for new stocks by running stock screens, endlessly reading (blogs, research, magazines, newspapers), looking at holdings of investors we respect, talking to our large network of professional investors, attending conferences, scouring through ideas published on value investor networks, and finally, looking with frustration at our large (and growing) watch list of companies we’d like to buy at a significant margin of safety. The median stock on our watch list has to decline by about 35–40% to be an attractive buy.

But maybe we’re too subjective. Instead of just asking you to take our word for it, in this letter, we’ll show you a few charts that not only demonstrate our point, but also show the magnitude of the stock market’s overvaluation and, more importantly, put it into historical context.

Each chart examines stock market valuation from a slightly differently perspective, but each arrives at the same conclusion: the average stock is overvalued somewhere between tremendously and enormously. If you don’t know whether “enormously” is greater than “tremendously” or vice versa, don’t worry, we don’t know either. But this is our point exactly: When an asset class is significantly overvalued and continues to get overvalued, quantifying its overvaluation brings little value.

Let’s demonstrate this point by looking at a few charts.

The first chart shows price-to-earnings of the S&P 500 in relation to its historical average. The average stock today is trading at 73% above its historical average valuation. There are only two other times in history that stocks were more expensive than they are today: just before the Great Depression hit and in the 1999 run-up to the dot-com bubble burst.

(Source: dshort.com)

We know how the history played in both cases—consequently stocks declined, a lot. Based on over a century of history, we are fairly sure that, this time too, stock valuations will at some point mean revert and stock markets will decline. After all, price-to-earnings behaves like a pendulum that swings around the mean, and today that pendulum has swung far above the mean.

What we don’t know is how this journey will look in the interim. Before the inevitable decline, will price-to-earnings revisit the pre-Great Depression level of 95% above average, or will it maybe say hello to the pre-dot-com crash level of 164% above average? Or will another injection of QE steroids send stocks valuations to new, never-before-seen highs? Nobody knows.

One chart is not enough. Let’s take a look at another one called the Buffett Indicator. Apparently, Warren Buffett likes to use it to take the temperature of market valuations. Think of this chart as a price-to-sales ratio for the whole economy, that is, the market value of all equities divided by GDP. The higher the price-to-sales ratio, the more expensive stocks are.

(Source: dshort.com)

This chart tells a similar story to the first one. Though neither Mike nor Vitaliy were around in 1929, we can imagine there were a lot of bulls celebrating and cheerleading every day as the market marched higher in 1927, 1928, and the first eleven months of 1929. The cheerleaders probably made a lot of intelligent, well-reasoned arguments, which could be put into two buckets. First, “This time is different” (it never is), and second, “Yes, stocks are overvalued, but we are still in the bull market.” (And they were right about this until they lost their shirts.)

Both Mike and Vitaliy were investing during the 1999 bubble. (Mike has lived through a lot more bubbles, but a gentleman never tells). We both vividly remember the “This time is different” argument of 1999. It was the new vs. the old economy; the internet was supposed to change or at least modify the rules of economic gravity—the economy was now supposed to grow at a new, much faster rate. But economic growth over the last twenty years has not been any different than in the previous twenty years—no, let us take this back. It has actually been lower. From 1980 to 2000, real economic growth was about 3% a year, while from 2000 to today, it has been about 2% a year.

Finally, let’s look at a Tobin’s Q chart. Don’t let the name intimidate you—this chart simply shows the market value of equities in relation to their replacement cost. If you are a dentist, and dental practices are sold for a million dollars while the cost of opening a new practice (phone system, chairs, drills, x-ray equipment, etc.) is $500,000, then Tobin’s Q is 2. The higher the ratio, the more expensive stocks are. Again, this one tells the same story as the other two charts: Stocks are very expensive and were more expensive only twice in the last hundred-plus years.

(Source: dshort.com)

What will make the market roll over? It’s hard to say, though we promise you the answer will be obvious in hindsight. Expensive markets collapse by their own weight, pricked by an exogenous event. What made the dot-com bubble burst in 1999? Valuations got too high; P/Es stopped expanding. As stock prices started their decline, dot-coms that were losing money couldn’t finance their losses by issuing new stock. Did the stock market decline cause the recession, or did the recession cause the stock market decline? We are not sure of the answer, and in the practical sense, the answer is not that important because we cannot predict either a recession or a stock market decline.

In December 2007, Vitaliy was one of the speakers at the Colorado CFA Society Forecast Dinner. A large event, with a few hundred attendees. One of the questions posed was, “When are we going into a recession?” Vitaliy gave his usual, unimpressive “I don’t know” answer. The rest of the panel, who were well-respected, seasoned investment professionals with impressive pedigrees, offered their well-reasoned views that foresaw a recession in anywhere from six months to eighteen months. Ironically, as we discovered a year later through revised economic data, at the time of our discussion, the US economy was already in a recession.

We spend little time trying to predict the next recession, and we don’t try to figure out what prick will cause this market to roll over. Our ability to forecast is very poor and is thus not worth the effort.

An argument can be made that stocks, even at high valuations, are not expensive in context of the current incredibly low interest rates. This argument sounds so true and logical, but—and this is a huge “but”—there is a crucial embedded assumption that interest rates will stay at these levels for a decade or two.

Hopefully, by this point you are convinced of our ignorance, at least when it comes to predicting the future. As you can imagine, we don’t know when interest rates will go up or by how much (nobody does). When interest rates rise, then stocks’ appearance of cheapness will dissipate as mist on the breeze.

And there is another twist: If interest rates remain where they are today, or even decline, this will be a sign that the economy has big, deflationary (Japan-like) problems. A zero-interest rate did not protect the valuations of Japanese stocks from the horrors of deflation—Japanese P/Es contracted despite the decline in rates. America may be an exceptional nation, but the laws of economic gravity work here just as effectively as in any other country.

Finally, buying overvalued stocks because bonds are even more overvalued has the feel of choosing a less painful poison. How about being patient and not taking the poison at all?

You may ask, how do we invest in an environment when the stock market is very expensive? The key word is invest. Merely buying expensive stocks hoping that they’ll go even higher is not investing, it’s gambling. We don’t do that and won’t do that.

Not to get too dramatic here, but here’s how we look at it: Our goal is to win a war, and to do that, we may need to lose a few battles in the interim.

Yes, we want to make money, but it is even more important not to lose it. If the market continues to mount even higher, we will likely lag behind. The stocks we own will become fully valued, and we’ll sell them. If our cash balances continue to rise, then they will. We are not going to sacrifice our standards and thus let our portfolio be a byproduct of forced or irrational decisions.

We are willing to lose a few battles, but those losses will be necessary to win the war. Timing the market is an impossible endeavor. We don’t know anyone who has done it successfully on a consistent and repeated basis. In the short run, stock market movements are completely random—as random as your trying to guess the next card at the blackjack table.

However, valuing companies is not random. In the long run, stocks revert to their fair value. If we assemble a portfolio of high-quality companies that are significantly undervalued, then we should do well in the long run. However, in the short run, we have very little control over how the market will price our stocks.

Our focus in 2016 was to improve the overall quality of the portfolio—and we did. We will stubbornly continue to build a portfolio of high-quality companies that are undervalued.

The market doesn’t need to collapse for us to buy new stocks. The market falls in love and out of love with specific sectors and stocks all the time. In 2014 and 2015, healthcare stocks were in vogue. But in 2016, that love was replaced by a raging hatred. We bought a lot of healthcare stocks in 2016. In the first quarter, REITs as a group were decimated and we bought Medical Properties Trust (MPW) at less than 10 times earnings and a near 8% dividend yield—more on that later. We also spend a lot of time looking for stocks outside the US, in countries that have a free market system and the rule of law.

The point we want to stress is this: We don’t own the market. Though the market may be overvalued, our portfolio is not.

Vitaliy N. Katsenelson, CFA, is chief investment officer at Investment Management Associates in Denver, Colorado. He is the author of Active Value Investing (Wiley) and The Little Book of Sideways Markets (Wiley).

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brujis · 7 years

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Finding High-Quality Companies Today

This article was featured in John Mauldin’s Outside the Box newsletter.

Last week in Outside the Box, Jim Mellon shared some good advice on picking stocks in the Age of the Index Fund. Jim said,

[C]ommitted investors should make a list of companies that they really like, know about, and want to own – at the right price. If the shares of those firms are too high, put in limits, possibly 20-30% below current levels, and wait. Don’t let cash burn a hole in your pocket – let the stocks come to you, and don’t chase.

Within a day of publishing Jim’s piece, my friend Vitaliy Katsenelson’s quarterly letter to clients landed in my inbox, and I thought it would make a good follow-up to Jim’s article. Vitaliy is one of today’s most outstanding value investors – he’s the author of Active Value Investing and The Little Book of Sideways Markets; he’s a regular speaker at events around the annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting in Omaha; and he stages his own excellent VALUEx Vail event every summer.

So what will make this market finally tank or plunge us into the next recession? Vitaliy doesn’t know, and he’s not afraid to say so:

What he does know is a lot about value investing in trying times – I mean, wouldn’t you say the past two decades have been trying times for value investors, all things considered? Vitaliy’s is just one of the wise perspectives I’ll be sharing with you, along with my own, as we all gird up for the Great Reset in our future.

– John Mauldin

Finding High-Quality Companies Today

By Vitaliy Katsenelson, CFA

We are having a hard time finding high-quality companies at attractive valuations.

But maybe we’re too subjective. Instead of just asking you to take our word for it, in this letter we’ll show you a few charts that not only demonstrate our point but also show the magnitude of the stock market’s overvaluation and, more importantly, put it into historical context.

Let’s demonstrate this point by looking at a few charts.

(dshort.com)

We know how the history played in both cases – consequently stocks declined, a lot. Based on over a century of history, we are fairly sure that, this time too, stock valuations will at some point mean revert and stock markets will decline. After all, price-to-earnings behaves like a pendulum that swings around the mean, and today that pendulum has swung far above the mean.

What we don’t know is how this journey will look in the interim. Before the inevitable decline, will price-to-earnings revisit the pre-Great Depression level of 95% above average, or will it maybe say hello to the pre-dotcom crash level of 164% above average? Or will another injection of QE steroids send stocks valuations to new, never-before-seen highs? Nobody knows.

One chart is not enough. Let’s take a look at another one, called the Buffett Indicator. Apparently, Warren Buffett likes to use it to take the temperature of market valuations. Think of this chart as a price-to-sales ratio for the whole economy, that is, the market value of all equities divided by GDP. The higher the price-to-sales ratio, the more expensive stocks are.

This chart tells a similar story to the first one. Though neither Mike nor Vitaliy were around in 1929, we can imagine there were a lot of bulls celebrating and cheerleading every day as the market marched higher in 1927, 1928, and the first eleven months of 1929. The cheerleaders probably made a lot of intelligent, well-reasoned arguments, which could be put into two buckets: first, “This time is different” (it never is), and second, “Yes, stocks are overvalued, but we are still in the bull market.” (And they were right about this until they lost their shirts.)

Both Mike and Vitaliy were investing during the 1999 bubble. (Mike has lived through a lot of more bubbles, but a gentleman never tells). We both vividly remember the “This time is different” argument of 1999. It was the new vs. the old economy; the internet was supposed to change or at least modify the rules of economic gravity – the economy was now supposed to grow at a new, much faster rate. But economic growth over the last twenty years has not been any different than in the previous twenty years – no, let us take this back: it has actually been lower. From 1980 to 2000 real economic growth was about 3% a year, while from 2000 to today it has been about 2% a year.

Finally, let’s look at a Tobin’s Q chart. Don’t let the name intimidate you – this chart simply shows the market value of equities in relation to their replacement cost. If you are a dentist, and dental practices are sold for a million dollars while the cost of opening a new practice (phone system, chairs, drills, x-ray equipment, etc.) is $500,000, then Tobin’s Q is 2. The higher the ratio the more expensive stocks are. Again, this one tells the same story as the other two charts: Stocks are very expensive and were more expensive only twice in the last hundred-plus years.

What will make the market roll over? It’s hard to say, though we promise you the answer will be obvious in hindsight. Expensive markets collapse by their own weight, pricked by an exogenous event. What made the dotcom bubble burst in 1999? Valuations got too high; P/Es stopped expanding. As stock prices started their decline, dotcoms that were losing money couldn’t finance their losses by issuing new stock. Did the stock market decline cause the recession, or did the recession cause the stock market decline? We are not sure of the answer, and in the practical sense the answer is not that important, because we cannot predict either a recession or a stock market decline.

In December 2007 Vitaliy was one of the speakers at the Colorado CFA Society Forecast Dinner. A large event, with a few hundred attendees. One of the questions posed was “When are we going into a recession?” Vitaliy gave his usual, unimpressive “I don’t know” answer. The rest of the panel, who were well-respected, seasoned investment professionals with impressive pedigrees, offered their well-reasoned views that foresaw a recession in anywhere from six months to eighteen months. Ironically, as we discovered a year later through revised economic data, at the time of our discussion the US economy was already in a recession.

An argument can be made that stocks, even at high valuations, are not expensive in context of the current incredibly low interest rates. This argument sounds so true and logical, but – and this is a huge “but” – there is a crucial embedded assumption that interest rates will stay at these levels for a decade or two.

Hopefully by this point you are convinced of our ignorance, at least when it comes to predicting the future. As you can imagine, we don’t know when interest rates will go up or by how much (nobody does). When interest rates rise, then stocks’ appearance of cheapness will dissipate as mist on the breeze.

And there is another twist: If interest rates remain where they are today, or even decline, this will be a sign that the economy has big, deflationary (Japan-like) problems. A zero interest rate did not protect the valuations of Japanese stocks from the horrors of deflation – Japanese P/Es contracted despite the decline in rates. America maybe an exceptional nation, but the laws of economic gravity work here just as effectively as in any other country.

Finally, buying overvalued stocks because bonds are even more overvalued has the feel of choosing a less painful poison. How about being patient and not taking the poison at all?

Not to get too dramatic here, but here’s how we look at it: Our goal is to win a war, and to do that we may need to lose a few battles in the interim.

We are willing to lose a few battles, but those losses will be necessary to win the war. Timing the market is an impossible endeavor. We don’t know anyone who has done it successfully on a consistent and repeated basis. In the short run, stock market movements are completely random – as random as your trying to guess the next card at the blackjack table.

However, valuing companies is not random. In the long run stocks revert to their fair value. If we assemble a portfolio of high-quality companies that are significantly undervalued, then we should do well in the long run. However, in the short run we have very little control over how the market will price our stocks.

Our focus in 2016 was to improve the overall quality of the portfolio – and we did. We will stubbornly continue to build a portfolio of high-quality companies that are undervalued.

The market doesn’t need to collapse for us to buy new stocks. The market falls in love and out of love with specific sectors and stocks all the time. In 2014 and 2015 healthcare stocks were in vogue, but in 2016 that love was replaced by a raging hatred. We bought a lot of healthcare stocks in 2016. In the first quarter, REITs as a group were decimated and we bought Medical Properties Trust (MPW) at less than 10 times earnings and a near 8% dividend yield – more on that later. We also spend a lot of time looking for stocks outside the US, in countries that have a free market system and the rule of law.

The point we want to stress is this: We don’t own the market. Though the market may be overvalued, our portfolio is not.

For a more extensive version of our thoughts on investing in today’s environment, see “How Investors Should Deal With The Overwhelming Problem Of Understanding The World Economy.”

The post Finding High-Quality Companies Today appeared first on Vitaliy Katsenelson Contrarian Edge.

via Vitaliy Katsenelson Contrarian Edge http://ift.tt/2qZzWY0

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kristinsimmons · 4 years

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The future of dentistry is functional. Here’s why.

Dentistry is not separate from medicine

Diet & lifestyle

Periodontal disease & chronic disease

The oral microbiome

Sleep & airway health

How functional dentistry offers hope

Benefits of a functional dentist

Principles of functional dentistry

Are you ready for the future?

One of the worst mistakes ever made in healthcare was the separation of “medicine” and “dentistry”.

Fortunately, patients — and dentists — are changing this paradigm.

The practice of functional dentistry, which honors the mouth-body connection and takes a root cause approach to dental health, is in high demand.

As people learn the integral connection between their oral and overall health, they are seeking an answer they can’t find in the average dental office.

Dentists who take a functional approach to patient care are the cutting edge of modern dental care.

To succeed in dental practice, functional dentistry will soon become not just a “niche” specialty, but a necessity.

I see it every day — my team receives hundreds of emails, DMs, and comments each week from patients desperately seeking a functional dentist in their area.

Dentistry is Not Separate from Medicine

Our insurance plans, regulations, and education may be strictly separated, but dentists and medical doctors are treating interconnected parts of the same person.

The body simply has no “closed systems” that can be addressed without considering the rest of the body.

Most significantly: A functional approach to health is likely to improve overall health, while an unhealthy lifestyle will most certainly lead to disease throughout the body over time.

So, what are some of the most common examples of the entanglement of oral and overall health?

Diet & Lifestyle Habits

The most obvious way that oral and overall health are connected is the way they are impacted by your diet and lifestyle.

The same dietary patterns associated with higher rates of chronic disease are also a root cause of cavities.

Smoking is not just a leading cause of oral cancer, but also cataracts, rheumatoid arthritis, birth defects, and diabetes.

A sedentary lifestyle won’t just lead to an increased risk of heart disease and obesity; it’s also bad for your oral health.

Your diet and lifestyle impact absolutely every part of your health, from the brain to the toes.

Periodontal Disease & Chronic Disease

Periodontal disease (gum disease or periodontitis) is one of the most common dental diseases, impacting almost half of all adults in the US and over 70% of adults over the age of 65.

Some functional dentists have suggested that periodontal disease is an autoimmune disorder.

Autoimmune responses and chronic inflammation aren’t limited to the gums. If you develop periodontitis, your risk of many other chronic diseases skyrocket.

Periodontitis is associated with the following chronic diseases:

Type 2 diabetes

Rheumatoid arthritis

Osteoporosis

Coronary heart disease (CHD)

Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Pneumonia

Parkinson’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease

Psoriasis

Respiratory infections

Allergies

Endocrine disorders

2019 research suggests that gum disease may be a causative factor of Alzheimer’s.

Learn More: Can gingivitis cause Alzheimer’s disease?

The Oral Microbiome

The human microbiome is home to up to 100 trillion microbes, many of these found in the gut.

Few people are unaware of how very important the microbiome is, particularly for a healthy immune system.

But the oral microbiome, the second most diverse of the body’s biomes and containing about 45% of the same bacteria strains as the gut, is a system many people have never even heard of.

A dysbiosis (imbalance) of the bacteria in the oral microbiome is associated with conditions such as:

Inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis)

Cirrhosis of the liver

Certain types of cancer

H. pylori infection

Rheumatoid arthritis

Atherosclerosis (which causes cardiovascular disease)

Type 2 diabetes

Adverse pregnancy outcomes (miscarriage, preterm birth, low birth weight, etc.)

PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome)

Obesity

Sleep & Airway Health

During sleep, the body repairs and restores itself.

However, poor airway position and sleep-disordered breathing (including sleep apnea) can rob you of the benefits of restful sleep.

These same problems may also lead to worsened dental health by causing dry mouth and/or weakening your immune system.

Your dentist can spot telltale signs of sleep and airway problems up to a decade before your medical doctor can. The most well-known of these is bruxism (teeth grinding).

Without a comprehensive healthcare team of both functionally-minded doctors and dentists, those crucial years can be lost.

Consequences of poor sleep over time range from obesity to the risk of heart disease or diabetes, to depression.

How Functional Dentistry Offers Hope

Functional dentistry takes an approach to oral health that does not simply focus on getting rid of symptoms, like cavities or gum disease but gets to the root cause of your problems.

Some of these root causes may be somewhat obvious — like a diet full of candy. Others, though, aren’t obvious to the general observer.

Root causes of oral disease that a functional dentist may address with you include:

Mouth breathing

Antibacterial mouthwash and toothpaste

Chronic inflammation

Microbiome dysbiosis (of the gut and oral microbiome)

Improper facial development

Acidic pH levels in the mouth

Side effects of pharmaceutical medications

A diet devoid of nutrient-dense foods and rich in empty carbohydrates and processed foods

nutritional deficiencies

Chronic stress

Sleep apnea or other sleep disorders

After 33+ years of dental practice, I can attest to the fact that when patients address these root causes, their symptoms abate and their overall health improves.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dr. Mark Burhenne (@askthedentist) on Jul 9, 2020 at 9:50pm PDT

Benefits of Seeing a Functional Dentist

As you can see, a functional dentist should be an integral part of your healthcare team. But this form of dental practice is also beneficial in other ways.

Quality Time

As a functional dentist, time spent with my patients is vitally important to their health success. We talk about what they eat, how their lifestyle has changed, the quality of their sleep, and more.

A traditional dentist might spend a few moments beside your chair, while a functional dentist spends truly quality time with each patient.

Plus, most functional dentists see a small fraction of the patients that a traditional dentist sees. You are at a far lower risk of being just another patient ID number to your healthcare provider.

A Lifetime of Savings

The number one complaint people have about functionally-minded dentists — and all dentists, really — is the cost.

Many functional dentists don’t accept dental insurance and only perform services of a higher, more expensive quality than a traditional dentist.

However, this is a shortsighted concern.

Quality of Life

Modern humans have extended our lifespans by decades beyond many of our ancient ancestors.

But by addressing the root causes of your dental issues — which are likely behind some systemic issues as well — your quality of life can grow exponentially.

The Principles of Functional Dentistry

Each dentist in my Functional Dentist Locator agrees to a set of principles that define the way we work with our patients.

Functional Dentistry goes beyond treating the signs and symptoms of our patients by determining how and why illness occurs and restoring health by addressing the root cause of dental disease.

Functional Dentistry aims to teach patients prevention strategies to help them avoid the need for future dental work.

Functional Dentistry recognizes the importance of the oral microbiome in both dental and whole-body health, and as such, discourages the use of antimicrobial mouthwashes and toothpastes.

Functional Dentistry practices early intervention in pediatric patients because it recognizes the importance of craniofacial complex and its contribution to overall health.

Functional Dentistry works to understand the impact of inflammation in the mouth and its impacts on inflammation throughout the rest of the body.

Functional dentistry is not just removing our patients’ symptoms; it’s enabling our patients to thrive.

Are you ready for the future?

As you can see, a root cause approach is the most cutting-edge, patient-first approach to dental health available to us today.

Don’t stay sick and tired. Don’t be left behind. Find a functional dentist and start living in the future, now.

Are you a patient seeking a trustworthy functional dentist in your area? Search my Functional Dentist Locator today.

25 References

Chang, S. A. (2012). Smoking and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes & metabolism journal, 36(6), 399-403. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3530709/

Meurman, J. H. (2010). Oral microbiota and cancer. Journal of oral microbiology, 2(1), 5195. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3084564/

The post The future of dentistry is functional. Here’s why. appeared first on Ask the Dentist.

The future of dentistry is functional. Here’s why. published first on https://wittooth.tumblr.com/

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kristinsimmons · 6 years

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Root Cause Movie Review: Are root canals killing us? A dentist’s thoughts

Recently, major dental organizations created an uproar about the Root Cause movie.

The American Association of Endodontists (AAE), American Dental Association (ADA), and American Association of Dental Research (AADR) all requested Netflix remove the film because it’s so misleading.

But I’m already not a member of the ADA because I don’t necessarily buy into all their methods. I was intrigued…Could this movie be uncovering something new?

The Guardian covers the topic from a free speech perspective, but I was eager to look at the movie from the perspective of a functional dentist. I might add that I’m also committed to being honest about proven science when it comes to natural dental and oral health—so I can still be a bit of a skeptic.

(Plus, who doesn’t want to watch a dentist movie? Those don’t come around often.)

From articles like “Root Cause Movie: Debunked” to “Is Your Root Canal Causing Cancer,” I found most of the information on the movie to be limited and questionable.

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the Root Cause movie, so I watched the film myself. I’ll share with you now what I think was right, wrong, and downright unethical.

So, are root canals making us sick…or worse?

What is the Root Cause movie about?

The Root Cause documentary follows a filmmaker through a re-enactment of a period of about 10 years. In the film, Frazer Bailey shares his experiences including a root canal, concussion from a punch to the face, and subsequent fall into a sickened state.

Bailey describes his time as a nearly invalid man as one filled with searching. He looked to every medical, emotional, and spiritual avenue for an answer to his pain and had nearly given up by the time he found it.

According to Bailey, it took an entire decade for someone to point out that he had a failed root canal. Through a series of alternative medicine “diagnostics,” they determined the root canal was making him tired, depressed, and generally ill.

Then, Bailey interviews many experts with lots of letters behind their names. The titles of each subsequent expert seemingly gives a lot of credence to the progressively startling and extreme claims made throughout the movie.

For example, Dr. Dawn Ewing connects root canals and breast cancer in a shockingly certain manner. 98% of breast cancer patients have root canals on the same side as their cancer?!

Dr. Minkoff, the first expert to speak, essentially insists that his patients constantly have chronic, systemic diseases arising from root canals.

This new Netflix documentary raises many questions for patients who have had or may need root canals. Below, I’ll take you through what the Root Cause movie says and the facts we’ve proven. Then, let’s go through some Q&A about the movie.

Is the Root Canal documentary accurate?

Below, I’ll get into the specifics on what this movie claimed versus what we know to be true.

But let me say this: Root canals are helpful for the vast majority of patients who get them.

I’m not saying that because I’m a profiteering jerk—I say it because, if you need a root canal, I’d hate for a fear-inducing movie to stop you from getting the work you need.

There are a few things they’re correct on, though.

For one, there is a major link between what happens in the mouth and what happens in the body. (1)

I’ve been saying it at Ask the Dentist for years—more needs to be understood by doctors and dentists everywhere about the overall health of the mouth and body. They aren’t two separate parts that never intersect. I call it the mouth-body connection.

One of the clearest ways this plays out is the link between gum disease and diseases like diabetes. There’s definitely a correlation there!

Another true point in the Root Cause movie is that no root canal is 100% clean.

This is something else I’ve been saying for a long time that dentists and endodontists know. When you root canal a tooth, there are lots of tiny tubules that can potentially play host to bacteria. On occasion, these bacteria do overgrow and can escape into the bloodstream to cause infection.

But the extent to which they silently remain undetected, causing all forms of chronic disease was grossly overstated in this movie.

What are the dangers of root canals? Most often, the danger of getting a root canal involves the potential for a lesion (an abscess or cyst) within the root canaled tooth. This happens when bacteria left in the horizontal tubules throughout the tooth grows and damages tissue.

This bacteria can indeed cause symptoms and even get into your bloodstream. However, not only is this rare, it’s going to cause an infection and probably cause you pain. It’s incredibly unlikely that you’ll have no oral pain that would point your dentist to investigating any root canals you’ve had done.

What are some specific facts Root Cause stated that aren’t totally fact?

Root Cause Movie: Fact Check

What did Root Cause get right…and what did they get wrong?

Root Cause Says: “98% of women with breast cancer have a root canal on the same side as their offending breast cancer.”

The Facts:

There’s no scientific evidence I’ve ever been presented that supports this theory. I’m unable to find any review of breast cancer (of which there are many) that includes any statistic like this.

In fact, the idea of the cancer being on “the same side” as a root canal is based on the premise of the meridian system, not proven scientific fact. While I don’t challenge that traditional Chinese medicine has its benefits, there’s no solid proof that this system is real in the way it was presented in the Root Cause movie.

There’s been a lot of sensationalism around statistics that include people who have root canals and those who die of cancer. It’s true that a lot of people who die of cancer have had a root canal.

But it’s also true that a lot of people (in general) have had root canals. Over 15 million teeth have new root canals each year. (2) Since less than two million new cases of cancer are diagnosed in a calendar year and a little over 600,000 people die of cancer each year, the fact that cancer and root canals exist together isn’t surprising. (3) It certainly isn’t proof of causation.

Root Canal Says: The number one cause of heart attack is a root canal tooth. This is specific cause and effect, not correlation.

The Facts:

There is no published scientific evidence whatsoever to prove this claim.

In fact, some evidence points the opposite direction. For instance, one study found that just over 50% of patients with major heart diseases had some evidence of endodontic lesions and about 23% had definite abscesses under teeth—but only half of them had even received endodontic treatment! (4)

Another study found an inverse association between number of teeth and cardiovascular disease. This means that the number of teeth pulled (which Root Cause recommends over a root canal) was associated with more heart disease. (5)

There’s a rare, but real, connection between bacteria entering the bloodstream during dental work and endocarditis. This condition is called infective endocarditis and is more common in people with heart disease. It happens when bacteria settles on dead heart tissue and causes infection.

Interestingly, this is more common (although still incredibly rare) with cleanings than it is root canals. That’s why I often consider preventatively premedicate patients with heart disease with Penicillin before giving them cleanings.

Root Cause Says: “The biggest toxic influence in the body of a chronically ill person is a root canal tooth.”

The Facts:

It’s true that a failed root canal can lead to systemic infection in a very limited number of patients. But there’s no reason to believe that all (or most) chronically ill people are ill due to a root canaled tooth or that everyone (or most people) with a root canaled tooth will become chronically ill.

In fact, when it comes to the connection of the mouth and body, I think we should be talking far more about the connection of gum disease to diabetes than the small number of failed root canals.

A toxic mouth can be toxic to the rest of the body, but there’s a lot more published evidence that gum disease is far more likely to be connected to chronic illness.

Root Cause Says: “The root canal is a fatally flawed procedure.”

The Facts:

If the root canal procedure was fatally flawed, how do the majority of people with root canals live productive, healthy lives?

On the other hand, there is data that people who have more teeth pulled (not root canaled) have higher chances of many diseases. This includes heart disease and cancer. (6, 5)

Root Cause Says: The root canal was invented, in part, because wealthy patients didn’t want to have decayed tooth removed. This would make them appear to be poor, so they’d rather hang onto their natural teeth, especially when capped with a gold crown.

The Facts:

Root canals were invented to solve three problems: 1) relieving pain from tooth decay, 2) removing diseased tooth pulp, and 3) preserve existing teeth rather than pulling them. (7)

In short, there may be some truth to this claim in the Root Cause movie. However, it was also a procedure that was designed to prevent pain. Those who get root canals aren’t simply choosing an elective procedure for aesthetic reasons.

The other options you’d have would be to get dentures or a bridge. Both of these options are far more problematic scientifically than root canals.

Root Cause Says: The vast majority of chronic degenerative diseases begin with problems in the mouth (infections/toxins). 80-90% of people are sick at least in part because of an infected tooth. Those have to be addressed if you want a clear, positive response with the treatment of your degenerative disease.

The Facts:

I’ve been saying for years that the mouth and body are far more intrinsically connected than most doctors realize. What happens in the mouth happens in the body.

It’s absolutely true that if you have a degenerative disease, you need to have oral infection and disease corrected to get better effectively.

What I don’t think is true here is the statistic given. It’s stated, again, as a sensationalistic one-liner, and I can’t find evidence to support the 80-90% number.

Root Cause Says: “No dead tissue is left anywhere else in the body, except with a root canal.”

The Facts:

It’s true—if your foot has gangrene, you must have it amputated.

But the same doesn’t exactly apply with teeth, because a root canal does remove the tissue that’s still living (the pulp). What’s left behind is non-living, calcified tooth structure.

The remaining tooth can’t be remineralized or demineralized like a living tooth. But that means it can’t decay like a normal tooth.

This comparison is misleading at best, because a gangrenous foot will continue to experience necrosis and spread infection 100% of the time. On the other hand, a root canaled tooth structure itself can’t become infected again and only a small portion of root canals result in lesions or cysts that must be treated later.

The claim that no other dead tissue is left in the body is also a bit untrue. For example, in mitral valve prolapse, a bit of dead heart tissue is left within the heart.

But there’s no part of the body that’s more well encapsulated than the inside of a calcified tooth. The anatomy of a tooth versus a gangrenous foot are not alike and the comparison doesn’t work.

Root Cause Says: Dentists will do anything they can to save a patient’s tooth, even if it means the patient dies.

The Facts:

It’s ludicrous to make this type of claim about a respected profession like dentistry. This is an emotional, unfounded statement.

Dentists go through four years of training and continued education after college in order to best serve their patients. While no one is perfect, and I do have many concerns about some common practices in dentistry, none of these are concerning to me because dentists themselves are willing to hurt patients (or even kill them)!

The very notion is clearly meant to strike fear. It doesn’t reflect the vast majority of men and women who practice dentistry.

Root Cause Says: Root canals cause systemic problems including (but not limited to) insomnia, fatigue, stress, anxiety, depression, cancer, and heart disease.

The Facts:

There are many reasons these symptoms can happen to people, and some of them are indeed connected to oral health. For example, sleep apnea, TMJ/TMJ, grinding/bruxism, and mouth breathing can all impact several of these symptoms. There’s no reason to think that these are caused by properly done root canals.

One major question I had about this movie is the connection of the producer’s concussion from being punched. Why wasn’t that more of a focus? Concussions can indeed cause many of the conditions listed above.

As stated earlier, there’s actually an inverse relation with both heart disease and cancer based on pulled teeth. (5, 6)

Root Cause Says: “Probes will measure biotoxins [in root canaled teeth] more dangerous than anything found in nature.” This includes botulism toxin.

The Facts:

In any root canaled tooth, there will be small amounts of bacteria left within the tooth. There’s no published evidence that suggests these are somehow superbugs or different than any other kind of bacteria you might expect to find in the mouth.

As for biotoxins more dangerous than found elsewhere in nature, the only toxin named in the film was botulism. This is found in untreated water and soil in some parts of the world. It’s not typically found in the body, so if it’s in a root canaled tooth, it would have gotten there from untreated water.

Endodontists and dentists sterilize instruments before root canals, so the chance of botulism or similar environmental toxins finding their way into the root canaled tooth is incredibly slim at best.

Root Cause Says: Medical doctors don’t pay attention to bodily issues that could be referred from dental problems.

The Facts:

In this case, Root Cause gets it pretty correct. If there’s an oral infection due to a poorly done root canal, it’s true many physicians wouldn’t consider it in their diagnosis. The same would be true for gum disease or tooth abscess caused by other issues in the mouth.

That’s why I urge readers to consider oral health problems alongside the health of the rest of their body in my article on CRP and Oral Health.

The good news is that most patients are aware of the fact they have an oral infection and are already working with a dentist to treat it.

Unlike what the Root Cause movie implied, the majority of patients with toxins in failed root canals have pain symptoms. (8) That’s why it’s not very likely an endodontic lesion or abscess would be ignored for years on end.

Root Cause Says: Dental schools “look at the mouth like it’s a mannequin, like you can do any type of procedure [in the mouth] with no direct impact on the rest of the body.”

The Facts:

That’s an insulting and untrue statement to the profession of dentistry. These sorts of broad generalizations aren’t helpful to a discussion about life-and-death matters like those discussed in the Root Cause movie.

In dental school, curriculum teaches dental students a lot about how oral and dental health impact the rest of the body. Plus, the required accreditation of dental schools mean that educational standards are consistent throughout the United States, so there isn’t a major variation in what dentists are taught.

Questions from the Root Cause movie + science-based answers

Do root canals cause cancer?

A: No, root canals do not cause cancer.

Here are a few things we do know about root canals and cancer.

First, it is fairly routine for cancer patients to undergo assessment and correction of any failed dental work before chemotherapy. Doing so helps ensure chemotherapy will be most effective, since an infection in the mouth is taxing the immune system already. (9)

Second, there’s an inverse relationship between number of teeth and cancer. The less teeth you have, the higher your cancer risk. (6)

Note here: Having your teeth pulled is actually an indication of higher cancer risk. In the study, root canaled teeth don’t count as missing.

Do root canals cause other systemic diseases?

A: Root canals can occasionally become infected and pass infection into the bloodstream. In these rare cases, infection can occur throughout the body and tax the immune system and/or cause symptoms (usually beginning with pain in the mouth).

However, the idea that root canals cause a huge number of diseases from cancer to depression is called the “focal infection” theory. It was disproven in the late 1970s, but some dentists cite much older research by Weston A. Price to insist this theory is true. (10)

Focal infection theory is the concept the Root Cause movie starts with, but there’s no reason to believe this is actually happening according to the data we have.

How do I know if it’s safe for me to get a root canal?

A: The vast majority of people who get well-done root canals each year live healthy and vibrant lives. According to available research, there’s no reason to believe a well-done root canal will cause major issues.

If you have diabetes, there is a somewhat higher chance that you’ll get endodontic lesions (cysts or abscesses under a root canal tooth). (11, 12) That’s because many diabetics don’t heal from any surgical procedures as well as a non-diabetic. In these cases, it’s a good idea to talk to your physician and dentist about this so that you’re aware of your options.

If you have a dilacerated root system of the teeth, meaning your roots are curved, root canals may not be the best choice for you. It’s very difficult to clean the roots in these cases.

High blood pressure can also increase the chance of a root canal failing. (13)

Finally, patients undergoing treatments for cancer or who have immune-compromised systems may not be the best candidates for root canals. Similar to diabetes, these conditions can limit the body’s ability to heal after any type of surgery or invasive procedure.

Ultimately, the most important thing you should know when you get a root canal is that your dentist and/or endodontist will do a good job. Root canals will fail almost every time if they aren’t performed properly, using the right kind of sterilization and clinical protocol. (14)

How do I decide if I should get a root canaled tooth removed? Do I need to see a specialist?

A: If your tooth is tender when you tap it with the back end of a fork or is sore while chewing, I’d recommend getting a cone beam (3D) scan of your tooth. This 3D scan can help reveal any lesions that would suggest a failed root canal.

In any case, I’d recommend getting cone beam scans on your root canals every 5-10 years, depending on what you and your endodontist decide. This is a great way to have peace of mind that your root canal has been successful and isn’t causing any residual pain in the mouth or infection elsewhere in the body.

Any general dentist or oral surgeon skilled at removing teeth can remove a root canaled tooth. There’s no difference between removing a recently root canaled tooth or a regular tooth.

Sometimes, a root canaled tooth can ankylose to the bone, meaning it’s rigidly connected to the jawbone. Those are more complicated root canal removals and probably require the care of an oral maxillofacial surgeon.

Was Weston Price’s research as revolutionary as the experts in the film made it out to be? Why isn’t more modern dentistry based on what he discovered?

A: Dr. Weston A. Price was a maverick of a dentist. He was, in many ways, ahead of his time in creative research. He discovered what he termed “Activator X” that is probably what we now refer to as vitamin K2. He was also the first person to recognize that nutrient was so vital to the development of the facial structure and health of teeth.

In addition, his work uncovered the link between aboriginal diets and strong bones and teeth versus a Western diet that led to far more cavities and poor growth, even within one generation.

However, in conventional dentistry, Weston Price isn’t a highly regarded name. This is likely due to the fact that a large portion of his research had major issues in its methodology. The rabbits experiment, for example, had very flawed logic from the beginning.

Many of Price’s experiments weren’t well-controlled and didn’t follow current standards of research, such as protocols that avoid contamination.

I respect a lot of what Weston A. Price accomplished, but with the quality of much of his research, it’s important to be cautious when using his results to make strong conclusions.

Is there less risk of infection if I have a tooth pulled rather than root canaled?

A: When you pull a tooth, you’re removing all the infected tissue and connected tubules, unlike with a root canal. There may be a slightly lowered risk of infection, but then you have to deal with the ramifications of losing a tooth.

For example, if your tooth is pulled and you get an implant, you’ve now got to put a foreign substance in your mouth, rather than leaving a calcified tooth that your body recognizes as part of itself.

Implants are susceptible to infection of their own. They’re also rigidly connected to the bone and don’t have the give that a root canaled tooth does.

If you choose not to have a pulled tooth replaced with an implant, your teeth will shift over time. This may lead to the need for orthodontic treatment like braces or aligners.

Are some people more susceptible to toxins found in a root canaled tooth like they mention in the Root Cause movie?

A: In the film, one “expert” points out that the supposed reason many people with root canals are perfectly healthy is because some people are more susceptible to these horrible toxins.

Yes, root canals can’t ever be 100% clean and yes, some people, even after a well-performed root canal, will develop lesions in the root canaled tooth. Certain subsets of the population are more likely to suffer infection after a root canal, such as diabetics or people with compromised immune systems.

However, as I pointed out earlier, there are two major issues with the concept the film suggests.

One, there’s no reliable evidence that tells us root canals definitely cause chronic systemic diseases in any predictable way. Failed root canals are rare and their impact is more well-understood than that. They certainly aren’t responsible for the types of disease this film claims.

Second, root canals aren’t the site of super-toxins that are worse than anywhere else in the world. This is simply not a true statement.

Should I have a cone beam (3D scan) done on my root canals to check for cysts or lesions?

A: I believe patients who get root canals are smart to get cone beam scans about once every 5-10 years after a root canal, or more often if you and your endodontist choose to do so.

Is it true that a root canaled tooth can look fine on an x-ray but actually contain a cyst or abscess?

A: Conventional x-rays may fail to reveal a lesion in a root canaled tooth. However, cone beam (3D) scans are far more reliable.

Even if you don’t see a dentist that offers cone beam scans, a failed root canal will almost always reveal itself. I’m not talking years here—in a few months, you’ll have pain that should send you to a dentist, who would find the cause in the root canal (if it’s there).

Is it possible that anesthetizing a root canaled tooth with an abscess could relieve pain elsewhere in the body?

A: No. This is based on the meridian theory used as a differential diagnosis, but there’s no scientifically proven reason the demonstration in the movie would work.

Are a lot of lesions or abscesses left by a root canal asymptomatic within the mouth for long periods of time?

A: No, most of these will cause pain within a few months at most. If they’re asymptomatic, it’s unlikely they’re a true abscess.

Can a Lecher antenna determine what’s causing an illness in my body?

A: There isn’t proof published by any scientific community that the Lecher antenna works consistently (or at all). As with other alternative medicine, I’m not quick to say it can’t work, but it seems incredibly unlikely to me.

Until a reputable research study is published on the topic, the Lecher antenna can’t be relied upon as a way to diagnose disease of any kind. There is no known mechanism that supports this diagnostic tool.

Marketers call the Lecher antenna “the best kept secret in science”—that’s because it’s not science.

Does ozone gas travel throughout the mouth when injected into one tooth?

A: No, it doesn’t travel as far as the Root Cause movie claims. There’s no credible evidence-based data on this topic that suggests ozone moves throughout the entire mouth.

Studies Mentioned in the Root Cause Movie

Upon some further investigation, I found that several of the clinicians featured in the Root Cause movie have undergone civil and/or criminal proceedings based on their poor healthcare.

This made me wonder…What about all these studies cited? Are any of them legitimate?

Not to give away the ending here, but I was unable to find most of the studies “cited” throughout the movie.

If you find any studies I wasn’t able to find below, please let me know! I’d love to add them to this article.

Here’s a quick list of the research mentioned and what I found (or, mostly, didn’t find).

Citation: 98% of breast cancer patients have a root canal on the same side as their cancer.

Supporting research found: None.

Citation: Bale-Doneen method of cancer treatment doesn’t recommend root canals

Supporting research found: None. Bale-Doneen published a video stating their method was misrepresented in Root Cause. (Check it out here.)

Citation: “The vast majority of chronic degenerative diseases begin with problems in the mouth.”

Supporting research found: None.

Citation: Bacteria still resides in the tooth after root canal has been performed.

Supporting research found: “Effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) on Enterococcus faecalis biofilm in experimental primary and secondary endodontic infections” (15)

Citation: 70-90% of all medical problems actually originate in the mouth.

Supporting research found: None. What happens in the mouth does happen in the body—but there’s no evidence that this many instances of every single disease are somehow directly caused by failed root canals or other oral health issues. That’s an oversimplification at best, and at worst, a misleading and fear-inducing statement.

Citation: 95% of the time, women with breast cancer with thermographic studies have hot spots on the jaw on the same side as their cancer.

Supporting research found: None.

Citation: 97% of sick patients of Dr. Thomas Rau between the ages of 30-70 had a root canal or toxic situation in the teeth.

Supporting research found: None. If this has been documented in Rau’s clinic, it’s never been published, controlled, or peer-reviewed in any publication I could find.

Citation: A 19-year-old patient had a root canal on her front tooth related to the kidney and bladder meridians. Then, she started getting bladder and kidney infections. The root canal was tested. Her clinician saw a direct relationship and told the mother the tooth needed removed. After refusing, three months later, she took the tooth out and her symptoms disappeared.

Supporting research found: None. No case study resembling this was available in any publication I could find.

Citation: Dr. Tennant mentions a study of 60 cancer patients. 96% had an infected tooth in the same “primary supply circuit” of their cancer.

Supporting research found: None.

Citation: In a study of 87 well done root canal treated teeth, regardless of how well the procedure was performed, most had a high degree of toxicity. Not one of the 87 were non-toxic.

Supporting research found: None.

Citation: Haley claimed to have published a study that showed toxins from root canaled teeth are equal in toxicity to the standard by which all biological toxins are measured: hydrogen sulphite. They’re also equal to botulism poisoning.

Supporting research found: None

Citation: All root canals are infected, with no exception. This was a study by an American holistic dentist society. They tested 30,000+ extracted root canals and all were infected.

Supporting research found: None. No root canal is 100% clean, but a very small number of bacteria is to be expected. The mouth is supposed to have bacteria in it, and your immune system is typically very good at fighting off any infection stemming from a root canal.

Citation: A research study found 53 different bacteria in root canaled teeth. 28 are directly involved in the health of the heart. This study proves that root canals create certain heart conditions, like endocarditis.

Supporting research found: “Detection of bacterial virulence genes associated with infective endocarditis in infected root canals.” (16) This study does show that a few types of bacteria from a failed root canal can enter the bloodstream and lead to infective endocarditis. However, there is no mention or connection to any other type of heart condition other than this one specific type of infection.

Citation: The more root canals you have, the higher your chance of heart attack.

Supporting research found: None. There is some connection between those with coronary artery disease and more endodontic lesions, but many of those aren’t even caused by a root canal. (4)

Citation: Scientists found after examining 5,000 cavitations left after wisdom teeth removal, only one had healed.

Supporting research found: None.

Citation: Cavitations can cause diseases such as MS (multiple sclerosis).

Supporting research found: None.

Key Takeaways About the Root Cause Movie

So…Root Cause movie. Believe it? Don’t believe it?

The root causes of your diseases are usually a lot more complex than a failed root canal. But it is true that bacteria from a root canal can sometimes make its way into the bloodstream and cause infection. (17)

The root canal/cancer connection made in the Root Cause movie is not only weak—it’s non-existent. Other claims about heart disease, back pain, depression, and many other conditions have no legitimate science behind them, either.

While I was somewhat glad to hear someone finally released a movie about functional dentistry, I was supremely disappointed in what I saw.

If your dentist tells you to get a root canal, you should be able to have an informed conversation with him or her about your options and the risks involved. You shouldn’t have an ominous voice in the back of your head warning you that root canals cause breast cancer—because they don’t.

As with every topic in health, it’s true that prevention is the best medicine overall. Eating a diet and living a lifestyle to reduce your risk for cavities may prevent this from ever being an issue in your own life.

However, don’t fear. If you do need a root canal, a skilled dentist or endodontist can help you preserve some tooth structure without looking to expensive orthodontics down the road.

Overall, the Root Cause movie talked about a lot of junk science, a lot of anecdotal stories without details, and a great deal of shaming or fear-causing “information.” But rest assured—these claims aren’t based in scientific fact.

Got more questions about root canals or this documentary? Just ask me and I’ll respond personally.

read next: Know Before You Go: Root Canals

References

Kane, S. F. (2017). The effects of oral health on systemic health. Gen Dent, 65, 30-34. Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29099363

American Association of Endodontists. (2018). Endodontic Treatment Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.aae.org/specialty/about-aae/news-room/endodontic-treatment-statistics/

National Cancer Institute. (2018). Cancer Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics

Liljestrand, J. M., Mäntylä, P., Paju, S., Buhlin, K., Kopra, K. A. E., Persson, G. R., … & Pussinen, P. J. (2016). Association of endodontic lesions with coronary artery disease. Journal of dental research, 95(12), 1358-1365. Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27466397

Oluwagbemigun, K., Dietrich, T., Pischon, N., Bergmann, M., & Boeing, H. (2015). Association between number of teeth and chronic systemic diseases: a cohort study followed for 13 years. PLoS One, 10(5), e0123879. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4422697/

Virtanen, E., Söder, B., Andersson, L. C., Meurman, J. H., & Söder, P. Ö. (2014). History of dental infections associates with cancer in periodontally healthy subjects: a 24-year follow-up study from Sweden. Journal of Cancer, 5(2), 79. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3909762/

Castellucci, A. (2004). A brief history of endodontics. Prato, Italy, 2-5. Full text: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.621.8148&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Martinho, F. C., de Rabello, D. G. D., Ferreira, L. L., & Nascimento, G. G. (2017). Participation of endotoxin in root canal infections: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European journal of dentistry, 11(3), 398. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5594974/

Elad, S., Raber-Durlacher, J. E., Brennan, M. T., Saunders, D. P., Mank, A. P., Zadik, Y., … & Passweg, J. R. (2015). Basic oral care for hematology–oncology patients and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients: a position paper from the joint task force of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer/International Society of Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO) and the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT). Supportive Care in Cancer, 23(1), 223-236. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4328129/

Murray, C. A., & Saunders, W. P. (2000). Root canal treatment and general health: a review of the literature. International Endodontic Journal, 33(1), 1-18. Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11307468

Fouad, A. F., & Burleson, J. (2003). The effect of diabetes mellitus on endodontic treatment outcome: data from an electronic patient record. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 134(1), 43-51. (Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12555956/)

Fouad, A. F. (2003). Diabetes mellitus as a modulating factor of endodontic infections. Journal of Dental Education, 67(4), 459-467. Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12749575

Holland, R., Gomes Filho, J. E., Cintra, L. T. A., Queiroz, Í. O. D. A., & Estrela, C. (2017). Factors affecting the periapical healing process of endodontically treated teeth. Journal of Applied Oral Science, 25(5), 465-476. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5804382/

Siqueira Jr, J. F. (2001). Aetiology of root canal treatment failure: why well‐treated teeth can fail. International endodontic journal, 34(1), 1-10. Full text: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1046/j.1365-2591.2001.00396.x

Tennert, C., Feldmann, K., Haamann, E., Al-Ahmad, A., Follo, M., Wrbas, K. T., … & Altenburger, M. J. (2014). Effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) on Enterococcus faecalis biofilm in experimental primary and secondary endodontic infections. BMC oral health, 14(1), 132. Full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4236465/

Bate, A. L., Ma, J. K. C., & Ford, T. P. (2000). Detection of bacterial virulence genes associated with infective endocarditis in infected root canals. International endodontic journal, 33(3), 194-203. Full text: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4478/488779b3ce59a2a240c140f3ef461730a9e2.pdf

Debelian, G. J., Olsen, I., & Tronstad, L. (1995). Bacteremia in conjunction with endodontic therapy. Dental Traumatology, 11(3), 142-149. Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7641631

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