I have been on quite a journey again recently with my own health and I wanted to share my experiences and research in case it might be useful to someone out there. Primarily my recent health adventures are concerned with teeth and their relationship with health.
Sudden onset of arthritic symptoms
As many might know in 2019 after a sudden onset of several symptoms I was diagnosed with an arthritic autoimmune condition. At the time, the condition was seriously limiting my life with pain and mobility issues. It seemed to come out of nowhere one day hiking up a mountain and three days later unable to walk at all! Inflammation went from my pelvis up my spine into my thoracic, neck and into TMJ. The pain was off the scale and landed me in A&E many times that year only to be told there was nothing wrong go away and take pain medication.
I got the diagnosis of Ankylosing Spondylitis later that year. This never sat well with me though as I am the wrong sex, wrong age and my symptoms came on so quickly. I have asked the medics about the possibility of the illness being caused by bacteria. They refused to believe this to be the case for me, but I beg to differ. Bacteria can and does cause inflammation in the body and when this happens in some people reactive arthritis is triggered. I have treated myself with a natural anti-bacterial protocol which seems to work well for me in part. I have worked very diligently since the onset of my symptoms, stepping up my health regimen and supporting myself in the best ways possible to recover myself.
This journey has been up and down and as any of you with complex health problems will know, it is a constant learning curve. I wanted to touch on this as it may be / is probably highly relevant to the information I will share now.
The tooth
When I was in my final year at university in 1998 (makes me sound old I know!) I had a sudden and excruciating pain in my tooth. It got a little better and then it got worse and then much worse. To cut a long story short I ended up getting a root canal. Without anaesthetic I might add as the dentist told me they could not inject the site as the abscess was too large! That root canal failed and had to be redone a week later again without anaesthetic. You can see now where my life-long fear of dentists came from!
After the root canal the pain went away and on, I cracked with my life thinking very little about the tooth for many years. The tooth did discolour over the years. I ignored that however as my lip mostly covered my teeth and it wasn’t giving me any problems, so I let it be. I would on occasion note that the tooth felt odd, sometimes in the colder weather it would feel numb and strange, dead almost. Otherwise, my life went on as normal. I had regular check-ups with various dentists over the years, and they all agreed the root canal tooth was fine.
My health on the other hand wasn’t great, my immune system as an adult seemed to get really ramped up and reactive. Sudden allergies to foods, environments and I developed adult hay fever that was so bad sometimes put me in bed for days! I have been very healthy with my diet, supplement, regular exercise and having treatments when needed. Over the years I treated the symptoms that cropped up with different remedies, therapies etc and they all helped, but some underlying problems never seemed to go away completely.
Digging deeper regarding my symptoms
As most of you know I have been a health practitioner for the past 20+ years, and I sincerely believe that my knowledge and practices have contributed to my health remaining as good as it has given what I am about to share. I think I have always known that something would need to be done with this tooth but buried my head in the sand as I was so scared of dentists.
So back to the root canalled tooth, we fast forward now to 2024 and something started to feel odd with it odder than is had been up until now. I also developed an abscess on the gum above it and was beginning to feel quite ill. I felt tired, run down, I was having all sorts of other things like heart palpitations, my body temperature would not regulate sometimes I’d be boiling and other times deathly cold. My basal body temperature never rose above 35.80 and that was on a good day. I had tests for Thyroid and some other things nothing much was found. I take a raft of vitamins minerals and eat well but nothing was working as well as it should. I piled weight on too and was unable to shift it. Doing full on Keto with max of 20g carbs per day for several weeks I only lost a minimal amount of weight! I had my annual dental check in March. I spoke to my dentist regarding my tooth and how it felt odd. He said it all looked fine. I knew it wasn’t fine, so I got a second, third and fourth opinion – they all concluded the tooth was infected!
In the meantime, I had done so much research on teeth, root canals and amalgams (that’s a topic for another post!) What I was finding was startling and was beginning to make sense of all my other symptoms and illnesses!
Findings from my research
According to Weston A Price a pioneering Canadian dentist root canalled teeth are host to a myriad of different bacteria that can cause all sorts of issues in the body. Simply put a root canal renders a tooth dead. The body does now want a dead or decaying tissue in it and so tries to get rid of it by breaking it down hence the bacteria. This is a normal process for the body to undertake – essentially decomposition.
The immune system is also greatly activated in this process as it tries to rid the dead tooth from the body. So here we can see that this is not a good situation for the body. It gets worse in that the bacteria in the tooth is out of reach of the immune system due to how a root canal is performed and sealed off so the body cannot effectively deal with the dead tooth. So, the attack via the ramped immune system and the ever-multiplying bacteria continues.
Price disclosed the toxicity of Root Canals back in 1910. This greatly upset the American Dental Association and most of Price findings were never made public. Root Canals continue to be prescribed as the best way to preserve a tooth that is giving problems and pain. However, the tooth is not preserved as a living thing it is a lump of dead tissue sitting inside the body! Around thirty million root canals are performed annually in the US alone at minimum of £700 a pop you can see that these are highly lucrative procedures!
Health issues that can be caused by root canals include systemic inflammation, autoimmune conditions, arthritic issues, heart problems including infections, chronic infections, and chronic nervous system degeneration. I am sure this list is not exhaustive!
I have shared a couple of articles on root canals at the end of this article for those who would like to read more.
The solution
The only solution with a tooth that has undergone a root canal is extraction. Some dentists might offer to re-do a root canal, but you need to think long and hard about that. I decided I needed to act and have mine extracted. It is a front tooth also so will be visible, so I needed to consider my options really carefully. Not a pleasant thought or indeed a pleasant thing to experience but having done my research I concluded it was the only thing I could do.
Getting a holistic dentist to perform the extraction for me was crucial in my opinion as they also take out the periodontal ligament along with the tooth, this ensures that all the bacteria is removed and cleared.
My extraction was followed by a bone graft, stitches and a denture placement. To say this was an easy process would be a lie. It was truly awful, the actual procedure was terrifying, I had so much anaesthetic the roof of my mouth felt like a pin cushion, and I could barely move my face afterwards. Getting the tooth out did not take that long however, afterwards the socket was cleaned and scraped (!) and then a synthetic bone graft injected (this helps with the bone loss in the jaw) and then I was stitched up and my new denture was fitted. I can honestly say that it was one of the most traumatic physical things I have experienced. I prepped myself for the extraction, took a raft of remedies did much meditation, kinesiology etc but it still felt utterly awful.
If anyone is facing any kind of dentistry and would like some treatment to help prepare your body for the procedure, I would highly recommend that you do, please reach out to me and I can offer treatment support.
Healing after the extraction
At the time of writing, I am several weeks post extraction, and I am healing, the infection is I believe clearing, and the extraction site is healing well. The denture is taking some getting used to. It is like having a big bit of plastic in my mouth. This was made as biocompatible as possible. Believe me I quizzed them! I have also done Kinesiology “corrections” on it to help my body accept it as best it can. I will eventually (when my jaw has healed and integrated the bone graft) get a Maryland Bridge. This is the least invasive option for me. The teeth either side of the missing one are not damaged with this kind of bridge. A tooth on wings is attached to the teeth either side of the missing one to replace the tooth. I will look get one made from zirconia rather than metal also to make this as biocompatible as possible. I briefly considered an implant but feel personally I could not tolerate this. I have mixed feelings about these and the research I have done is also very mixed.
The loss of a tooth
The loss of a tooth is multi-faceted in how it can affect you. Emotionally for me losing this tooth was a big deal and is taking time to integrate and assimilate. Perhaps it is because it is a front tooth so very visible. I have done a lot of work on this with my body. At first, I was having all sorts of phantom sensations (phantom limb sensation is a real thing). I firmly believe that if you are having tooth extractions you should consider some therapeutic work for your body to integrate the loss. I have also felt a real sense of emotional loss. It might sound silly as it is only a tooth, but it is a part of me that is now gone, and I will not get it back.
I have had several moments where I was questioning whether I had made the right decision. Ultimately, I know I have but this was still a process I am going through.
I also feel it looks horrendous when I look at myself without the tooth. This I feel I something that will take some getting used to and is a work in progress! Getting used to the denture is also something that is taking a time to get used to and again is a work in progress. It feels odd when I put it in and then odd when I take it out. I take it out every time I eat as I hate the thought of food getting caught in it! I feel the body will take its time to adapt to this energetically.
Teeth are connected to the meridians.
Our teeth are each connected to a meridian (meridians are energetic circuits in our body), we have 14 major ones 12 of which correspond to major organs. Meridians are what acupuncturists work with and needle. As a Kinesiologist I work with the meridians and instead of needling them I tap them or massage them to get the energy moving along them.
According to Donna Eden (taken from her book Energy Medicine) my extracted tooth UR1 is connected to the stomach meridian, this meridian runs from just below the eye to the 2nd toe. Interestingly for several days after the extraction I felt a feathery feeling on my right foot on the 2nd toe!
According to other dental meridian charts, the tooth I had extracted is connected to the Kidney and Bladder meridians. These meridians particularly the Kidney generally always need support when I check in in terms of any energy work I am doing for myself. The strength of Kidney meridian is critical for our overall vitality. This meridian runs from the ball of the foot up the front of the body to just below the clavicle bilaterally. The Bladder meridian runs from the inner canthus of the eye down to the lateral side of the little (5th) toe.
Also, interestingly in March I had a bout of Uveitis (inflammation of the eye) in my right eye! This is something I had alongside the main Autoimmune condition in 2019 but I had not had a bout since then up until March this year. Both Bladder and Stomach meridians run around the eyes.
The strength of the meridians effects the body and the related organs. It is interesting that this tooth connects the stomach as I have had a lot of stomach related issues over the years.
Teeth are connected to specific organs.
Teeth are also connected to specific organs in the body. My extracted tooth is connected to the uterus and kidneys. This is also interesting to me as I have always had low kidney energy and fatigue as part of my autoimmune condition. Over the past 4 years I have had 3 instances of early pregnancy loss the most distressing was in 2024 with a loss at 6 weeks. My hormonal cycle is also off kilter for the past few years something that is new to me as it has always been extremely predictable. This could be age related, however, I am extremely health conscious, so I have to wonder!
I will probably write more about teeth and health and keep you posted on how I am doing and the improvements that I hope for after this. For now, however, I urge you all to pay special attention to your teeth and your oral health. Take good care of this, it is intimately linked to your overall health.
I also urge you to question everything your dentist recommends and if something feels off challenge them and get a second opinion. Never get a root canal or allow your kids to have them. Don’t ever get amalgam (mercury) fillings.
I will be paying more attention to the oral health of the clients I work with going forward. I also recommend if you have chronic illness or problems that are not responding to treatments, healthy living etc that you look to your dental health as this could very well be effecting you.
Also to reiterate if anyone would like some help with treatment to integrate after having a tooth extraction or any other dental procedures please reach out. Contact Me
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