ARE ROOT CANALS TOXIC? by Dr. Eric McRory

February 13th, 2012

This week, I got an email from a friend of mine whose wife recently had a problem with a tooth. Apparently, a tooth that she had treated with a root canal some time ago was now having a problem, and she was wondering if her “original root canal – done twice – was infected or just sensitive”. Like a lot of folks these days, she did her own research on the internet and found to her dismay that “Root canals are toxic!” The website which she stumbled upon purports that “root canals are toxic and cause cancer regression.” This is a perfect example of how many people get innocently persuaded to believe completely false and misleading information. I’d like to dispute some of the claims made on the website, as I think its damaging to disseminate such inaccurate and/or false information. I urge you to first read the information on the website and then read my remarks below.

Here is my synopsis:

• A root canal procedure is a process whereby the dentist removes the dead or damaged nerve tissue (pulp) from the small passageways inside the root(s) of the affected tooth. It’s completely false to say that dentists “drill out the insides of the tooth and fill the tooth with metal rods.” This makes the procedure sound barbaric and damaging. Actually, after the damaged/dead tissue is cleaned from the tooth using small flexible files and either alcohol or bleach & water solution, the resulting enlarged canal space is filled or “sealed” with gutta percha rubber (a non-toxic naturally occurring rubber much like latex). Gutta percha rubber is soft, and is designed to completely fill and seal the small intricate root canal space after it is cleaned and disinfected of “toxic microbes”. Metal rods?????!!!!! That’s just plain wrong! This description of the procedure isn’t even close to the standard method that root canals are filled.

• It’s true that “root canals are a safe haven for microbes”. When the nerve dies inside the tooth, the blood supply is lost, and the inside of the tooth does become a “hiding place” for bacteria. That’s the whole reason for doing the procedure in the first place!! If the root canal procedure is done correctly, the microbes are all killed, washed out of the tooth, and prevented from re-entry into the tooth by complete obturation of the root canal space (with gutta percha). If the filling material begins to leak some time after the initial treatment however, that’s when the tooth can become a “hiding place” or “safe haven” for bacterial microbes to live. The implication in the article is that all root canals create a safe haven for toxic microbes; this is false. It’s only root canal spaces which are incompletely cleaned and sealed that could potentially create a safe haven for bacteria. By statistical measure, root canal procedures have a 97% success rate; that means that only 3% fail and could potentially contain “toxic microbes”.

• The author of the article says, “Root canals are a major cause of the immune system being suppressed and they are a major cause of cancer”. I don’t’ happen to believe that failing root canals are a major cause of cancer, but if this is true, it should be restated to say “Failing or improperly done root canals are a major causes of cancer…” A properly done root canal procedure would keep any microbes from re-entry into the root canal system of the tooth and therefore would prevent the tooth from being a “safe haven for microbes”.

• Like many medical procedures, root canals are not all executed with perfection, and are not 100% successful. Does this mean we shouldn’t do them? Consider the health consequences of leaving a toothache untreated or leaving a dental abscess to spread throughout the jawbone. What about just extracting the tooth and avoiding the root canal treatment? Well, there are usually long term effects of doing this as well; such as shifting teeth, uneven tooth wear, rapid bone loss in the area of the extracted tooth, and potentially an unsightly smile.

My opinion of this article is that it is purely salesmanship and marketing to sell innocent but gullible patients services which may actually make them worse off or do nothing at all. Unfortunately, when people have a debilitating disease like cancer, they are looking for answers to their problems and their own set of conditions can seem like they are the result of a vast medical conspiracy, where large organizations like the ADA or the AMA hide secrets from the public. Really??? Health professionals are busy enough trying to help people; we don’t have time to participate in a grand conspiracy to harm the public, nor would we have anything to gain! Root canals are not a potential toxic source of bacteria (“microbes”) unless the root canal system is inadequately cleaned and/or sealed.

-Dr. Eric McRory