IN this modern era, dentists strive to avoid using metal in permanent restorative treatment whenever possible. Orthodontics (braces) comprises an exception, at least for now. Notwithstanding, certain types of metals are still used in dental work, such as crowns, amalgam fillings, and dentures. Now, these metals, when placed in the mouth, sit in a medium of saliva, turning the mouth into a charged battery. We call this charge “galvanic toxicity”.

Bear in mind that the brain is a collection of millions of nerve fibres that act as a battery, emitting electrical charges throughout the body. The galvanic toxicity in the mouth is bombarding and overstimulating the brain, with common signs and symptoms including a metallic taste in the mouth, an electrical charge with utensils, and insomnia. Occasionally, a person can have a toothache simply because there is gold and amalgam in their mouth. The “shocking” sensation is really coming from the battery they have created.

Remember that the teeth are a large part of the puzzle of health and disease. There are several scenarios in which the teeth—and the way dentists work with the teeth—can play a role in disease. Sometimes, we are not aware of some of the consequences we face.

Teeth are really organs in the body, as they also have a blood supply, lymphatic drainage, and nervous innervation. Root canals are dead teeth. It is one of, if not the worst, sources of chronic bacterial toxicity. If the heart, liver or any other organ in the body dies, it will have to be removed; otherwise, septicaemia sets in, and the patient can die. Yet the teeth are commonly left dead in the body, often as stumps.

Teeth have roots with main canals and thousands of side canals, and contained in those sides are miles of nerves from the main canals. However, they do not have access to the microscopic side canals, which have dead nerves left behind in those spaces.

Anaerobic bacteria, which do not require oxygen to survive, thrive in the side canals, grow, and excrete toxins from the digestion of necrotic tissue, leading to chronic infection. Blood supply and lymphatics that surround those dead teeth drain this toxicity and allow it to spread throughout the body. This toxicity will invade all organ systems and can lead to a plethora of diseases such as autoimmune diseases, cancers, musculoskeletal diseases, irritable bowel diseases, and depression.

Gum disease is another vehicle through which bacteria can spread throughout the body. Classic signs of gum disease include bleeding when brushing or flossing, red and swollen gums, and bad breath.

The following is an actual case study from my office, describing a patient who came for an initial dental visit. She related a three-year history of breast cancer treated conventionally. Three years later, her cancer recurred, and she decided to seek alternative treatment rather than conventional treatment. She sought therapies for 5 months from two well-known physicians practising these therapies. She then followed up with my office to get a complete dental exam and diagnosis.

I took her history and examined the patient. I discovered that since her diagnosis of cancer, all the physicians—conventional and alternative—failed to ask or even consider her dental history as being a necessary part of her treatment or the possible association or connection to the root of the disease. It is not surprising that conventional physicians do not view dental history as associated with any disease process, but it is certainly absurd that alternative physicians fail to consider it at all.

Upon my examination, there were several acutely infected teeth, a root canal, and severe gum disease that were totally missed. Certainly, the conventional therapies and the alternative therapies that this patient received will most likely fail as this patient continues to harbour infection in her mouth that has chronically compromised her immune system and weakened her overall ability to eliminate toxicity and to heal.

The blood and lymphatic system is carrying the toxicity that continues to thrive in her mouth to all areas of her body and is contributing to her inability to fight cancer. So, it is important to look at the situation as a whole and the mouth as an essential part of our health and its contribution to disease.