Question:
What is the substance that is heated red hot and used to fill the canal?
Is it metal or some kind of plastic?
Answer:
Heated gutta percha is often used to fill root canals. It is not heated
"red hot." It is warmed to soften it enough to adapt to the minute
variations in the root canal walls, and to help it be properly
compacted.
When my dentist did my root canal he had his assistant hold a small torch
and he heated a very thin piece of something until it glowed. Is this
material a metal, plastic, or?
Just guessing here--it is probably a gutta percha spreader being heated
to soften and compress the gutta percha. Warm gutta percha is a filling
material whose use was pioneered largely by the late Herb Schilder, who
you can probably google for information on. These days there are more
convenient instruments for doing this--such as the System B unit, which
is an electric cannula. But the idea is the same--to plasticize the
gutta percha and achieve better adaptation of the material to the walls
of the canals.
Toxicity from Root Canals
The next subject to be discussed are root canals and their possible
source of toxicity. Approximately twenty five million Americans undergo root
canal therapy every year in an effort to prevent the loss of teeth that have
abscessed. The root canal is the left portion of the tooth which houses
the vital organs such as the nerve and blood vessels. The dentist endeavors
to clean and sterilize this canal and fill it with a sterile, non toxic
inert material. This usually renders this tooth serviceable and non painful;
however, the entire inner hard core of the tooth is made of dentin which has
several million dentinal tubules. These tubules allow the circulation of
lymphatic type fluid to circulate from the vital organs of the root canal to the
outside of the tooth. This is a viable circulatory phenomenon which has a purpose.
It services the periodontal ligament as well as the sensory aspect of the
nerve and blood centers in the root canal. If the body chemistry is healthy,
the flow of lymphatic fluid is from the root canal to the outside of the tooth.
This creates an irrigation for the tooth and usually prevents the
accumulation of plaque to form. When the body chemistry is not healthy, then the
circulation is from the outside of the tooth to the inner root canal. This allows for
no irrigation, but rather an accumulation of plaque to form. There are
many more reasons for maintaining the integrity of the circulation in the
dentinal tubules. Root canal therapy completely destroys this integrity, and
what happens to the non-circulating fluid in these tubules? This fluid as it
ages becomes stagnant and becomes a toxic substance. This porous structure
now becomes a septic mass emanating poisons into the body. Is this what you
want?
Mercury amalgams are said to be the caskets of the body. Root canals
are said to be the cadavers of the body.
I do not recommend root canals for anyone. Each individual has a right
to their decisions. Many people simply do not wish to lose a member of their
body. I respect this, and I always discuss the consequences.
The next area of discussion is whether the root canal filling actually
sterilizes the apical end of the tooth. There are so many lateral
canals at the root end of the tooth where bacteria can harbor that it is unlikely
that a complete aseptic condition exists. This, however, is a debateable
subject.
Again, the complete acceptance of root canal therapy as a viable
substitution for extraction is completely and whole heartedly supported by organized
dentistry. You are in violation of the code of ethics if you speak out
against root canal therapy. When I was a practicing dentist, I always let the
patient make that decision after explaining all pros and cons.
