SICK MOUTH, SICK BODY - WHAT CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

Oct 30

The mouth is far more than the gateway to your gut. It is the starting point of digestion, enabling you to chew food, release digestive enzymes and prepare nutrients for absorption. It is essential for breathing, speaking, swelling, tasting, producing saliva, protecting against pathogens and maintaining the oral microbiome. Through its intricate network of nerves and muscles, it influences facial expression, sensory perception and aspects of posture and jaw function. It plays a vital role in immune defence, nitric oxide production and our ability to communicate, connect and experience pleasure. When anything goes wrong with your oral cavity, it can have serious knock on effects on your entire health. To find out how and what to do about it, please read on …

Your Mouth is Connected To Your Body

Sometimes people say to me in consultations - “I don’t want you to look into my mouth, I’ve got terrible teeth” but it has never occurred to them that their “terrible teeth” could have anything to do with their poor health. In western medicine, we have done a very good job of compartmentalising medical fields so your doctor never talks to your dentist and the connection is never made between that rotten tooth you’ve had in your mouth for the last thirty years and your recent heart attack.

To be fair, cardiology does recognise that oral bacteria can damage heart valves but it doesn’t go far enough in educating patents exactly how this occurs and what to do about it. In other fields of medicine, like oncology, immunology, gastroenterology and neurology, there is a wealth of scientific research linking oral problems to serious systemic health problems, but the state medical system based on algorithms and pharmaceutical prescribing, has not caught up with the science.

Your mouth is not an isolated structure but an integral part of your body, intimately connected with the rest of your body - brain, gut, immune system, all of your organ systems. In clinical practice, I see the same oral challenges over and over again which can have mild to disastrous repercussions on overall health. People may not get better until these are addressed. That’s why I have made a list of the most common oral problems that I see that either stop people from regaining their health or create the problem in the first place:

What makes a sick mouth and sick body?

Toxic challenges in the mouth:

*Mercury amalgam fillings: known euphemistically as “silver fillings.” 50% of amalgams are mercury (the most toxic non radioactive substance on the planet). Amalgams leak mercury into the mouth every time you eat, drink, brush your teeth or chew gum. They disable your immune immune system, upset your gut and have been linked to a host of neurological diseases.

*Other metals in your mouth: Gold, silver, copper, tin, beryllium palladium, nickel, titanium are found in amalgams, dental restorations, implants and orthodontics. When the mouth contains two or more dissimilar metals, such as a gold crown and an amalgam filling, they are in contact directly through saliva which is a good electrical conductor. This process is known as oral galvanism and is similar to a tiny battery which can generate a range of symptoms from fatigue, dizziness, electric shock sensation and others.

*Titanium implants: These deserve a special mention as they are still so widely placed. Problems include the release of titanium particles into surrounding tissues, potential immune activation, gum inflammation, hypersensitivity reactions. They also act as an antenna for wifi radiation which is all around us. Zirconia is a much better implant choice as it is not a metal.

*Metal retainers: A fixed retainer may contain nickel, the most common metal allergy. It may also contribute to oral galvanism as above. A distorted retainer may produce unwanted forces on jaw mechanics and cranial function especially if left in place for years, as is often the case.

In short, there is no place for metals in a healthy mouth. There are now metal-free alternatives in dentistry.

Infectious challenges in the mouth:

*Root canal fillings: A root canal is a dead tooth hat has been filled with preservative in order to ‘save’ the tooth. However, at what cost to overall health? Dentistry is the only branch of medicine which allows a dead organ to be retained in the body. Imagine if a surgeon refused to remove a diseased appendix? Teeth contain approximately 3 kilometres of microtubules which cannot be effectively sterilised by any dentist doing a root canal procedure. Bacteria live within these tubules and continue to grow there. Their pee and poop is highly toxic and carcinogenic and escape from the tooth every time the host bites down. Pathogens and their toxins can travel through the body and set up home in distant tissues and organs. Antibiotics are ineffective for bacteria in root canals. A century ago, dentist and nutritionist Dr Weston Price showed how root fillings can trigger many diseases (heart, kidney, gut, nervous system, autoimmune and even mental disorders) in people and animals in his famous rabbit experiments. Modern science fully endorses his scientific findings. The first action that German oncologist Dr Josef Issels took with cancer patients was to remove infections from teeth and tonsils before any cancer treatment began. Dr Issels was one of the most successful oncologists of his time.

*Cavitations: A cavitation, as opposed to a cavity (hole in tooth) is a hole in the bone at the area of a previous tooth extraction. It arises most commonly as a result of poor extraction technique and failure to remove the periodontal ligament which anchors tooth to bone. The surface may heal superficially but the underlying bone may sense the tooth is still there and fail to fully fill in the site with new bone. The resulting lesion is always filled with dead, decaying material and pathogens, which like those from root canals, can travel round the body and set up home in distant organs. These infections are known as ‘silent jawbone infections’ as they most often cause no symptoms at all. Antibiotics are ineffective.

*Gum disease (periodontitis): Many people think a little bleeding while brushing teeth is not a big deal. Think again! Pathogens like P. gingivalis have been associated with Alzheimer’s and other serious diseases. Common pathogens in gum disease have been found in blood clots in heart attacks and brain aneurisms, so not a small thing!

*Bridges: Depend on the health of the supporting teeth. Bacteria, food and debris can get beneath the supporting teeth, particularly if the bridge is difficult to clean. This can cause persistent inflammation and progress towards periodontal disease and loss of vitality of the teeth supporting the bridge at both ends.

*Crowns: A crown may look like solid white porcelain on the surface but may hide a metal framework underneath. This might be nickel, chromium, cobalt, palladium, gold or other metals. The potential problems are metal sensitivity/allergy, corrosion and release of metal ions, oral galvanism, and hidden infections beneath the crowns.

Mechanical challenges in the mouth:

*TMJ (jaw joint) dysfunction: Creates a chronic stress on the body which puts it into fight-or-flight mode. This is known as “dental distress.” This is much underestimated in chronic fatigue and thyroid conditions. The relationship between the TMJ, head, neck are significant and problems can trigger dizziness, balance and other unexplained neurological problems.

*Overcrowding/poor orthodontics: When the oral cavity is not wide enough to contain teeth and tongue, this has been likened to a “six foot tiger in a three foot cage” (Dr. Felix Liao). The right orthodontic treatment, given early enough (known as Forwardontics) can help expand the dental arch to accommodate all teeth. This also enhances the child’s whole body health, including natural DNA expression of the face and aesthetic appearance.

*Enlarged tonsils/adenoids: Frequently cause a mouth breather, deplete oxygen in the brain and promote a long “adenoidal face.” A 3D CT scan will show whether there is a narrowed airway space at the back of the throat.

*Sleep apnoea/reduced airway space: Again look for a mouth breather, snorer and restless, unrefreshing sleep. An ENT or dental exam plus a sleep study may help to diagnose the problem.

*Tongue tie: This is so frequently under diagnosed and addressed that it is a joke! Meanwhile the unfortunate child or young person suffers all the consequences of having a tongue tethered to the floor of their mouth - TMJ issues, incorrect facial development, mouth breathing, excess fatigue and more. The treatment is so quick and easy. Afterwards the tongue needs to be retrained to be in the right position in the mouth.

*Mouth breathing: As above, this is a big red flag to look for the underlying root causes. There is a good book written by North American researcher George Catlin in the mid 19th century entitled Shut Your Mouth and Save Your Life. Says it all!

*Poorly fitting dentures: A key problem is loss of vertical height of both denture and the bone that supports it. This can trigger number of neck and cranial issues. Denture making is a real art and dentists who specialise in these prosthetics need to have a wide neurological knowledge. There are so many badly made dentures and so few well made ones by dentists. You also have to look after your dentures. A doctor specialising in neck and jaw diagnostics who works with dentists focusing on structural problems, told me he recommends patients have their dentures reviewed every five years.

Solutions to Oral Challenges

1.Make your oral health a priority instead of dismissing it as unimportant, especially if you are suffering from any chronic condition. It could save your life!

2.See a Biological dentist who can diagnose oral challenges accurately with 3D imaging, not 2D imaging which is inadequate for the job and will miss serious infections. To find out more about how Biological Dentistry differs from “drill, fill and bill” dentistry, please visit the IAOMT (International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology) website or please my the blogs on my website listed at the bottom of this article.

3.Be prepared to travel to see a Biological dentist. This is that branch of dentistry that treats the mouth as part of the whole body. A visit to the wrong dentist can herald a lifetime of illness and extra cost!

4.Don’t have the fixed idea that attending to your teeth/oral challenges will necessarily cost thousands. Observe for yourself and find a Biological dentist who is aware of your financial situation. Biological dentistry is private but most dentists I know are happy to work with a solution that their patients can afford. If you condition is wrecking your health, can you afford not to?

5.Dental work goes more smoothly when patients are well prepared nutritionally. Healing also progresses much better afterwards with less likelihood of a dry socket developing or work needing to be redone (more cost). The pre and post dental steps may be just as important as the dental surgery.

6.No matter what your dentist may tell you, there are safe protocols for removing metals in the mouth, removing infected root fills and detecting and cleaning out infected holes in the jawbone. There are also optimum ways of diagnosing and addressing structural problems in the mouth. If your dentist tells you otherwise, they are not adequately trained!

SICK MOUTH, SICK BODY - WHAT CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

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