Oral Pathogens: A Common Cause of Chronic Disease

e current medical literature now clearly demonstrates that the pathogens found in root canal-treated teeth and chronic gum disease are the direct causes for the vast majority of heart attacks today. Less concretely established, it also appears that these same dental pathogens are often the direct cause of most cases of breast cancer and a strong contributing factor to strokes secondary to ruptured cerebral aneurysms. Other infected teeth are often asymptomatic but are even more toxic than root canal-treated teeth. Detectable only by Xray, teeth with evidence of chronic apical infection are actually not uncommon, and the importance of actively looking for such infected teeth is extremely important in the patient with any chronic degenerative disease, but especially coronary heart disease. e problems with cavitations and dental implants are also discussed, along with the common denominator linking their infectious toxicity to that of chronically infected teeth. e importance of any degree of hypothyroidism as a facilitating agent for allowing the spread of dental pathogens, especially into the coronary arteries, is also addressed. A general treatment protocol for approaching chronic degenerative diseases is discussed, along with the absolute need for increased cooperation and coordination between physicians and dentists for the optimal treatment of their patients. Dentists need to refer their root canal treatment patients to physicians for cardiac evaluations, and cardiologists, internists, and general practitioners simply must make a dental evaluation for infected teeth a routine part of the workup in their cardiac patients. Redox Biology and Chronic Disease Promoters of chronic degenerative disease all share the common denominator of causing, directly or indirectly, increased oxidative stress in the tissues and organs involved in the disease process. Increased oxidative stress results when the ongoing production of free radicals and other pro-oxidant molecules exceeds the capacity of the antioxidant stores to neutralize them and/or repair the oxidative damage they have in! icted (Halliwell, 2006). Such an increase in oxidative stress is characterized by the presence of abnormally high levels of oxidized biomolecules that are crucial for normal cellular function, such as enzymes, proteins, lipids, sugars, and even nucleic acids. "e oral cavity is a source of pathogens and toxins for very many people, especially those with chronic degenerative diseases. All pathogens and toxins cause cellular damage and disease via the mechanism of increasing oxidative stress. Furthermore, all toxins are pro-oxidant, and all pro-oxidants are toxic. "ey are literally synonyms. At the molecular level, then, all toxins result in targeted biomolecules becoming oxidized, meaning they are depleted of elec8 Oral Pathogens: A Common Cause of Chronic Disease trons. Conversely, all antioxidants are antitoxins because they donate electrons, sometimes directly quenching the electron-seeking toxins or just restoring a full complement of electrons to previously oxidized biomolecules (reduction). All quality nutrients are “nutritious” only to the degree that they ultimately metabolize down to antioxidant, electron-donating agents at the molecular level. Even though the #nal common denominator of all disease is increased oxidative stress, the great variety in the clinical expression of diseases results from the characteristics of the increased oxidative stress and the chemical nature of the toxin. "e increased oxidative stress has the variables of which cells and tissues are a$ected, underlying genetic predispositions to oxidation, the chronicity and the degree of the increased oxidation, and the biochemical nature of the toxin. "e more important variables of the disease-causing toxin involve its solubility (water versus fat), molecular size, ionic charge, accumulative mass, the types of biomolecules to which the chemical con#guration of the toxin is most attracted, and how tightly the toxin holds on to the electrons it acquires. Holding on to the electrons acquired is a very important measure of toxicity, as this a%nity largely determines how signi#cantly healthy electron exchange and electron ! ow, in the form of biological microcurrents, is a$ected. All of these considerations regarding antioxidants and toxins come under the umbrella of redox (reduction-oxidation) physiology. Sources of Increased Oxidative Stress With the central role of increased oxidative stress in disease in mind, most prominent promoters of chronic degenerative disease come under one or more of the following categories: 1. Acute and chronic infections, which produce endotoxins, exotoxins, and multiple toxic metabolic byproducts 2. Ongoing exogenous toxin exposures 3. Accumulated toxins from all sources, with particular attention to excess iron and calcium 4. Dietary/poor digestion toxin exposure (more putrefaction, less digestion) 5. Abnormally low hormone levels, especially thyroid, and testosterone or estrogen 6. Poor to absent intake of quality supplementation "is list of the prominent promoters of chronic degenerative disease leads to the primary treatment principles for all such diseases: 1. To prevent or minimize new daily toxin exposures, often of dental, dietary, digestive, and/ or environmental origin 2. To neutralize existing toxins in the body 3. To excrete accumulated toxins in as nontoxic a manner as possible 4. To resolve infections and to minimize the risk for new infections 5. To supplement optimally 6. To address hormone imbalances, typically de#ciencies Statistically speaking, dental infections and toxins produced by those infections are the biggest factors in the causation and worsening of chronic degenerative disease. "ese sources of oral infection and toxicity can be itemized as follows: 1. Root canal-treated teeth (always chronically infected) 2. Other chronically infected teeth (often asymptomatic) 3. Chronic periodontitis (gum in! ammation and infection) 4. Cavitational gangrene, at the sites of old extractions 5. Chronically infected tonsils, secondary to the chronic drainage of infected teeth 6. Infected dental implants 7. Toxic metals, like mercury and nickel (not necessarily associated with infection) Chronically Infected Teeth and Gums "e root canal-treated tooth, due to the nature of the procedure, is always a site of chronic infection for as long as it remains in the mouth. Drs. Hal Huggins and Boyd Haley, in collaboration with dentists across the country, found that 100% of over 5,000 consecutive extracted root canal-treated teeth had very potent pathogen-related toxins, both endotoxins and exotoxins. Teeth extracted for orthodontic purposes that had not received root canal procedures were free 9 Oral Pathogens: A Common Cause of Chronic Disease of these toxins. In root canal-treated teeth that were already “considered” to be infected, fungi, viruses, and over 460 di$erent types of bacteria have been identi#ed (Siqueira and Rocas, 2009). Realizing that all root canal-treated teeth are infected and not just those considered to be endodontic technical “failures,” the dental literature provides clear evidence of the always toxic nature of these teeth as well. "ree di$erent studies found endotoxins in 100% of such teeth tested (Rocas et al., 2011; Martinho et al., 2011; Gomes et al., 2012). "e reasons that root canal-treated teeth are always infected, toxic, and important players in so many di$erent chronic degenerative diseases are quite straightforward. "e procedure itself aims to scrape and rout out as much of the life-giving pulp inside the tooth as possible. "is removes the blood supply, connective tissue, and nerves, all of which supply the very matrix that the immune system cells need to gain access to pathogens that need to be eliminated. Also, a normal tooth has a natural ! uid ! ow from the inside (pulp) of the tooth outwards. After the pulp has been removed, this ! uid ! ow reverses, and the many potential pathogens in the oral cavity are able to gain easy and continuous entry into the treated tooth. Nevertheless, if the pain in the tooth is eliminated by the procedure, which should be anticipated when all of the innervation is removed when the pulp is evacuated, the procedure is considered to be a success. Of note, a technically very successful root canal procedure can certainly “debulk” the amount of infection in the root canal space and surrounding the root tips. When this occurs, and the root canal space is technically well-sealed after being #lled, the root canal-treated tooth does present less of an infectious and toxic insult to the body than if the procedure was performed with less expertise. After the root canal procedure has been performed, the treated tooth could not be better suited to deliver its infectious and toxic contents throughout the body. Although the pulp was evacuated, the root tips still are “naturally” connected to the venous and lymphatic drainage systems in the jawbone. Every time chewing takes place, these toxic reservoirs can readily be disseminated throughout the body. And while no part of the body can completely avoid the regular delivery of these toxic payloads, they are especially prone to go via the lymphatics into the chest (breasts), neck and head. "e venous drainage ends up impacting especially severely the coronary and carotid arteries, which are the #rst vessels of high internal pressure to be encountered, allowing an e$ective “embedding” of the oral pathogens and their toxins into the endothelium and arterial walls, allowing the process of atherosclerosis to begin. All root canal-treated teeth are infected and toxic, but they are not all of equal negative impact on the health of the patients. Factors that determine the degree of negative impact on health include the following: 1. "e unique pathogen ! ora, which can include bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa 2. Whether the treated tooth is a chew