Root Canals and Cavitations

Research has demonstrated that virtually all root canals result in residual infection due to the imperfect seal that allows bacteria to penetrate.  The most commonly used material in root canals is gutta percha, which is soaked with chloroform and heated. But when the chloroform evaporates and the gutta percha cools, there is significant shrinkage in all such root canal fillings, which allows entrance of bacteria(18-22,50).  A condition that commonly occurs with root-canaled teeth is a radicular or periapical  cyst or apical periodontis, which is a pocket of bacterial inflammation that often forms in the gums at the tip of root-canaled teeth(48,49,52,53) due to bacteria inhabiting the tooth.  These are the most common type of cysts that form in the gums and can also be a factor in formation of cavitations in the neighboring jawbone.  Once established, nonmutans streptococci, enterococci and lactobacilli appear to survive commonly following endodontic root-canal treatment of teeth with clinical and radiographical signs of apical periodontitis (51). Large scale tests found cavitations under or located near approx. 90% of root canal teeth scanned in both males and females of various ages from several different geographic areas of the United States(2). The general population could be somewhat different from this sample as the sample was not a random sample.  In tests of 745 randomly chosen root-canaled teeth at a dental school, done at least 1 year prior to test, 33% were found to have apical periodontitis(53).

The toxins given off by these bacteria are often even more toxic than mercury(7-10). The bacterial toxins from root-canaled teeth and associated cavitations can cause systemic diseases of the heart, kidney, uterus, immune, nervous and endocrine systems.

A useful and commonly used test to assess the cause of toxic related chronic health conditions is the urinary fractionated porphyrin test, which measures the degree that toxic exposures have blocked digestive enzymatic processes necessary to the function of the body, by looking at the level of various waste porphyrins in the urine caused by these blockages.  The level of such toxic related porphyrins in the urine of people with chronic conditions including Parkinson’s have been found to decline in some patients after cavitation treatment(or amalgam removal). (20).  This is also been found for many cases of Lupus and MS(78,38).   Lupus symptoms are often associated with blockage and resulting high levels in urine of Uriporphyrin, while MS is more commonly associated with high Coproporphyrin.

Cavitation Treatment usually results in significant pain improvement

Cavitations commonly cause adverse health effects, and many thousands of cavitations have been treated.  They are commonly tested or biopsed by labs having the expertise to provide these services, and virtually all that have been tested or biopsed were found to be associated with dead, necrotic tissue and extreme toxicity(3,5-9). The types of conditions that cavitations have been most commonly related to are atypical facial neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, chronic sinusitis, phantom toothache pain, and headaches including migraines.

Dr. Briener, DDS, and others recommend two primary methods of treatment for their patients(40,54,etc.). First is a procedure where special homeopathic medications called Sanum remedies are injected into the cavitation site, and then a modified form of infrared light or low level laser light therapy is applied to the area. In some cases the light therapy alone has been sufficient to resolve the problem(54).  This is often successful in cases related to smaller cavitations with primarily poor blood flow or bacterial toxin effects . Also although cavitations are very common, they should only be treated surgically if there is indication of a relation to pain or chronic health effects not resolved by other means. There are various ways to assess this.

If this method is not successful, the alternative is to surgically open the area and clean the remaining ligament and resultant debris from the bone. Every biopsy of bone material he has collected from cavitation surgeries has shown osteonecrosis, or dead bone material.  In all studies reviewed, the majority of those undergoing surgery for NICO pain had significant pain relief after surgery(3-Table1,40,42-45,55-63,70,71,etc.). Clinical experience indicates that delays in treatment can lead to further infections(44), and the majority of patients have long term pain relief(45). However as much as 30% may have reoccurrence or new cavitations that lead to reoccurrence of pain. Prior to bone marrow biopsy the average NICO patient has been in pain for 6 years (up to 32 years), usually diagnosed as atypical facial neuralgia/pain, but also diagnosed as trigeminal neuralgia, chronic sinusitis, phantom toothache/pain, and various headaches, including migraine headache(3).  However treatment has also been successful at eliminating rheumatoid arthritic pain(43,18,26,27). 

French and German oral surgeons have developed an alternative method of minimally invasive cavitation surgery (41).

Due to the nature of the mechanisms related to cavitation formation, it is not uncommon for cavitation sites that are treated to become reinfected or to accumulate other toxins that can cause a relapse of symptoms. Such cases may require retreatment using either surgery or other options.

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