Hi jjhere,

Thanks for sharing your story and opinion. Having been in the dental profession for over 30 years it is completely understandable for a person to think that a root canal procedure has "saved" their tooth. After all, that is exactly what their dentist has told them. Unfortunately, what they have not been told is that in dentistry the term "save" when referring to endodontics simply means to "retain" or "keep". It does not mean to "cure" or make healthy. This fact has never been disputed at any time amongst the dental profession. It is just one that is not usually offered or shared by the dentist to the patient. Another fact not shared is the reason for the inability to make that tooth healthy again which is simply because the anatomy of a tooth does not permit any dental procedure to alter the size, shape or inaccessibility to the hundreds of microscopic canals known a dentin tubules or accessory canals that will for the life of the root canaled tooth contain necrotic, infected, inflamed nerve tissue. As yet other facts not shared are the toxicity of the root canal procedure itself or the systemic health consequences associated with retaining necrotic, infected, non vital teeth.

With all organs, bones, muscles, tissue and major systems of the body, blood is a vital nutrient that supplies nourishment and sustains life. Without the nourishment from blood, there is no life. The root canal procedure amongst it's many injurious and toxic steps, severs the blood supply from the tooth rendering the tooth non vital. This creates a perpetual chain of negative events referred to as ischemia and necrosis that eventually occur to the periodontal ligament and surrounding bone. The infectious bacterias that form as a result of this chain of events is not self limiting to just that tooth or just the mouth .. it is bacteria that filters through the blood stream, into every organ of the body.

It is true that once you extract a tooth, it's gone. Nothing can replace that tooth to make it fit, feel or function like your own tooth. However, what also needs to be realized is that once that tooth is no longer vital you have lost it anyway.

Given some light to this topic, I believe it is ones own opinion of what they think conservative to be and everyone has the right to make a decision that they feel is in their best interest. The choices are none other than this..... Do you want to "retain" toxic teeth that undeniably carry disease along with risk of infecting your other teeth and your health? Or do you want to remove the source of the disease, keep your other teeth healthy and eliminate the health risks?

I truly appreciate your sharing here. My sole purpose here is to offer the information that I know to be factual and I know to be most often withheld from the dental patient.

Bryanna