Hi Gretchen,

To be blatantly honest with you.... your dentist does have MANY patients who have chronic sinus infections and other health conditions that are related to or exacerbated by their root canaled teeth. She just has yet to make the systemic connection... which when she does, she will have to alter her sales pitch on root canal therapy.

Most of my 35 yrs in dentistry as a chair side assistant and patient advocate ... whether it was welcomed by the dentist or not, the majority of the time I have been the one to point out the systemic risks with clear evidence via the patient complaints, their medical history and their radiographs .... pretty crazy huh~?? You would be flabbergasted at how uneducated many dentists really are when it comes to systemic health. That's why I always say.... all dentists should be medical doctors first.

Early in my career, I was fortunate to work several years for a periodontist who was a great teacher and he had a passion for pathology. He was into every detail of every aspect of his patients care and he understood the systemic health connection to oral health. He would feed me as much information as I wanted to learn... and I wanted to learn it all! What I learned from him, some others since then, and my professional experiences.. have changed my perspective on dentistry forever. I will continue to share what I know irrelevant of who likes it or doesn't like it..... I can see that dentistry is going to have to change it's antiquated ways of thinking because people are getting more confidence in questioning their dentists ... which is a great thing!!!

As for the oral infection and connection with the brain..... that's a no brainer! Sorry, I couldn't resist. That organ is only 3-4 inches from the mouth and shares countless bundles of nerves and blood vessels. Ask your dentist this question.... if the bacteria from our mouths can travel to our hearts, our lungs, our kidneys, artificial joint replacements.... which are all a lot further than 3-4 inches ... then how unlikely is it that the bacteria wouldn't travel to the brain?? The bacteria travels via the blood stream.... what there's no blood going to the brain??? I'll bet she will tell you that the oral infection wards itself off to just the tooth ... as you know first hand, this is definitely not true. But if it were true.... then how does it get to these other organs???? Be brave Gretchen.... ask her I got on my soapbox.... getting off now..

To find a new dentist is not an easy task. I would start with the IAOMT organization and see if there is someone not to far from where you live. You can pm me your location and I can try to help if you want... not sure I would know any more than what you would get from them though.

Thanks for having such an open mind about all of this... you have learned so much and totally get it!!

Bryanna

Gretchen...

Even religious people can be misinformed .... she is not doing anything maliciously... just with blinders on.

Bryanna

I love your honesty, Bryanna!

I'm not sure if I should "tick" a dentist off who may hold the life of 2 of my teeth in her hands. LOL! I never know what I may say if the mood strikes me though!

There is another dentist I remember who may be a better choice than the one I have. She was going to do a lot of crown work for me years ago, but I chickened out. At that time, I had already had 2 root canals and some bad dental experience, so didn't want to "mess" with things. Bad idea on my part, I know. By the way, I still have 2 root canaled teeth.

However, she did take films to see if the root canals had failed, I remember this part of it. So, she seemed to know that root canals did not always work. I remember wondering why she would even be questioning the root canal work. I didn't even think that they could become infected. Now I know better!

I am going to call her office on Monday and see if I can get a cleaning, which I need, and have her go over their mercury removal protocol. If I like what she says, I will probably have her do that work. This would give me a clean slate and no emotional garbage or ill thoughts, so to speak.

I'll keep in touch! Gretchen

Hi Gretchen,

Irrelevant of where you go for dental work, it is imperative to make the dentist aware of your concerns. I can tell you that the patient who is forthright (in a friendly and non antagonistic manner) with their concerns and their boundaries will be treated more carefully and will most likely be given more information by their dentist .... as compared to the patient who comes across shy about their concerns and gives the impression that they will just go along with whatever their dentist chooses for them.

Also, to save yourself some time.... you can call different dental offices and ask what their mercury removal protocol is... if you get what's that?? as a response, you know they have no clue about the toxicity issues and you'd want to avoid them completely. If you get... oh we follow the protocol.... ask what it is because it can vary a lot and not be as protective as it should be. An inside tip....dentists can be very frugal and they tend to take short cuts wherever they can to minimize their costs.

Okay.... let us know how you make out

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna

You are right about being forthright about your concerns, it shows that you are an informative consumer. I just had a similar situation with my dog's Vet about vaccinations. She was amazed that I knew so much and was trying to give my "baby" 2 shots that were just not needed.

That's a great idea about asking over the phone about the dental mercury removal protocol. I will do that tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the much needed information you share!
Gretchen

Gretchen,

I had a similar situation with my cats and a vet that insisted on vaccinating them... over and over again. I sought a new vet who was willing to do serum antibody titer tests on my animals .... and bingo... no more vaccines needed!

Here is a great link about titer testing for you and any other pet owners reading this...

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/titer-testing/

Bryanna

Bryanna, That's good information to know, thanks for the link!

My dog doesn't react well to the tick and flea applications either and I hate giving them to her. I usually only use half of the tube a month, which is better, but anything is toxic. Just the thought of using a pesticide on her makes me feel very bad.

I know they have oral medication, but that also has side effects. I'd like to use something more natural, but it would have to work. I don't want fleas in the house either!

I'll keep you posted on the dental stuff.
Gretchen

Gretchen...

We got off track a bit here but what the heck!
Because you are so open to learning... here is a great link to protecting your dog against ticks and fleas......

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites...k-control.aspx

The video is a bit messed up but all the information is written in great length!

Perhaps this product is something you would be interested in trying...??

Bryanna

Hi Bryanna, Sorry for the delay in replying!

I will look up the ingredients in this spray to see how they could react on a dog.
It's very nice to have alternatives though! Thank you very much for this link.

Dental app. for crown tomorrow and will discuss other two areas to be done.
I'll check back with the information!

Thank you! Gretchen

Hey guys,

What a day at the dentist's today! First I was drilled by one of the assistants as to why I didn't follow the advise of the endodontist to get a retreatment on tooth 3.

I told her that it was my choice to rid myself of the infection instead of prolonging the inevitable and possibly making it worse. She just went on and on about the actual dates of extraction and who did what, then finally I had had enough!

I asked her if there was a problem and that she was being very judgemental and could we get on with why I was there - to get my permanent crown put on! I told her that I thought I would get a little more sympathy for what I had been through! Boy, that felt good.

She then backed off and got on with the reason I was there.
My dentist soon appeared and asked me how I was, to which I replied that I was feeling a little bit judged.

Since they have cubicles there and not separate rooms, she said she had heard it and tried to explain why they were asking extra questions about procedures and making sure everything was down in writing.

I really like this dentist, as she always sticks behind the patient and reassures them that their choices are right, and no one can make that kind of decision for them.

She thought that I should have a "bacterial removal cleaning and xrays" before doing anything else, and I agreed. Of course I got the permanent crown on today. Next Wednesday I go in for the cleaning.

After seating the crown, I loosened up some and felt a lot more comfortable, plus I had a different assistant at that time!
I told the dentist about the extractions and how easy one was, and for the other one I had IV sedation because it was a little more complicated.

I told her that I never wanted to have another root canal! She then told me that she had a retreated root canalled tooth, and I asked her if it felt better now. Her honesty really struck me. She told me that it felt okay only some of the time, and that it would eventually need to be extracted. I could tell by how she said it, that it was very hard for her to admit that.

Anyway, I'm feeling good now about staying with this dentist and am ready to move on to the cleaning, then the rest of the crown work.

I think that having a human interaction, something you can relate to with a doctor is so good for improving professional relations.

Sorry for being long winded! I'll be in touch.... Gretchen