Doc wonders who to believe - Pauling or Levy

[ofonorow]

Yes I have a concern as to who to believe. Dr. Pauling stated that heart disease was a vitamin C deficiency. I have also heard Dr. Tom Levy state that all heart disease is because of people who have had dental root canal procedures. Who is right? I can't afford to go out and have all my teeth pulled! Will the mega doses of Vitamin C take care of this problem?

Good question! Actually, Dr. Levy wrote a stunning book, STOP AMERICA'S #1 KILLER (livonbooks.com) where he identified the cause of heart disease as a localized scurvy in the arterial tissues. So Dr. Levy is in full agreement that (low) vitamin C is the root cause of the problem. (Lack of ascorbate in the cardiovascular tissues.)

It is my understanding that the point Dr. Levy makes about dental work is that it can be so toxic as to literally drain the body of any and all vitamin C reserves, creating the shortage (focal scruvy) that leads to heart disease. He does not believe that vitamin C supplementation can be all that effective until this particular source of toxicity is resolved.

I must differ because in our, now 15-year experience, we have seen severe heart disease resolved quickly in almost all cases of end stage CVD -- using Pauling sized high dose vitamin C and lysine. There has rarely been a failure, and in theory, most of these people probably had dental issues. (It is true that the dosages required for symptom reversal are high, and compliance becomes an issue.)

Now thinking this over, thanks to Dr. Cathcart (http://www.orthomed.com/titrate.htm) we know that during infections, large areas in the tissues are depleted of vitamin C. Cathcart called this acute localized scurvy: ascorbemia. It leads to generalized malaise and various symptoms of the illness. (Those on high vitamin C regimens rarely suffer as many symptoms as those who don't supplement C.) If dental work depleted C, why wouldn't the same ascorbemia result? If anything it is a mild ascorbemia. I think Dr. Levy is correct that ordinary amounts of vitamin C can not counteract the toxicity they have found in dental work, but it is not so clear that dental work drains the body as a bad cold or the flu will. (If Levy is correct given our experience, then the dental toxicity is highly localized, while the cold or flu are much more widespread. But this still means that high vitamin C should still be able to help correct cardiovascular issues, even with a dental toxicity issue. We obviously do not know everything at this point.)

So yes, dental toxicity is probably a cause of all or most CVD because it drains the body of its usually limited ascorbate.

Bottom line - both are probably right. The entire problem of cardivascular disease is related to insufficient vitamin C. (And medicine refuses to study any connection between vitamin C and heart disease.)

[majkinetor]

Real time video of mercury leaching from teeth.

I can suggest people to come to Serbia for cheapest dental fillings of any kind. You can fix your entire mouth with maybe 300E as one white filling is between 10-30E depending on manufacturer and dentist type. I know that people come here only to fix 1 or 2 teeth because combined with traveling costs its still cheaper then in most of the European countries. I hear that replacing all your fillings in USA can grow up to 10000$ in which case its still cheaper to come to Serbia to do it by 5 fold or more - together with traveling and staying costs.

[rasarver]

Thanks for the above post. The US dentists charge outrageous prices in my opinion. I've read that dentists in the US now have higher incomes than doctors in the US.

The entire US medical system is helping keep Americans sick while charging outrageous prices for medical services. No wonder more and more Americans are going to organizations like the VCF, Life Extension Organization, Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and doctoryourself.com for information on managing their health.

[BaronZemo]

Thanks for the above post. The US dentists charge outrageous prices in my opinion. I've read that dentists in the US now have higher incomes than doctors in the US.

The entire US medical system is helping keep Americans sick while charging outrageous prices for medical services. No wonder more and more Americans are going to organizations like the VCF, Life Extension Organization, Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and doctoryourself.com for information on managing their health.

there greed will be there undoing

[Cobraman]

Being a dentist, I take exception w/ some of the comments here. I work aprox. 60-70 hours week. How many of you do that? How many of you get called into work on a weekend or middle of the night? How many of you sacrificed through 8 years of college plus added time in residency? Most dentists run a business w/ high overhead, and heavy schedules. If they make a decent living they are entitled to it. If you worked 70 hours a week at your job and made a decent living I certainly wouldn't begrudge you. As far as greed goes most charge what the market determines as w/ any business. I personally give away many services to take care of my community on top of giving to numerous charitable organizations. I also employ 8 people which benefits the ecomomy. I'll now get off my soapbox.

As far as root canals go if done correctly there should be v. little toxins released. In some cases there is nothing that can be done to fix a tooth, even after root canal. Problems with treatment include accessory canals, virulent bacteria, etc. In these cases the offending tooth should be extracted. If a replacement is needed then a titanium implant could be done. Titanium oxide has been found to be completely inert in the human body.

As far as dental fillings go I have not placed a metal filling in over a decade and do believe that the heavy metals in restorations can cause health and immune system problems. Newer ceramics which are biocompatible and computer assisted design of restorations are now becoming the norm.

[majkinetor]

I work aprox. 60-70 hours week. How many of you do that?

Dude, I am computer engineer. I work 8 hours/d at 1st job, then usually 1-2 hour more at 2nd job, then usually I go home and spend around 4 hours learning new programming languages and techniques. Every day.

On to next thing, since you are dentist, I wonder would you tell me something about toxicity of white fillings (BPA). Is this overstated? Does it happen when I chew (as with mercury) or only on installation ? Thx.

[jknosplr]

Now that ALL are done TOOTING their HORN. Lets get back to VC instead of labor statistics, there is a unique site for that topic. I welcome a Dentist on this site as to either confirm some of the posts I read here and or debunk the myth's. Hope you keep the key board clicking!!

[ofonorow]

I agree with last post. We welcome inputs, especially from a practicing dentist! This forum does say a lot of disparaging things about the toxicity of dental work, so we could use more balance. But lets stick to vitamin C and toxicity! thx.

Now, one of the things I have never been clear about listening and reading Hal Huggins, is what would you replace a root canal with if you remove it???

[Cobraman]

First off, "Dude", no one was disparaging you or your profession as they were me. I don't believe anyone was saying anything about engineers. I aplaud all who work hard. I would just like some civil discourse. Back to science, I've not seen any reputable studies that would indicate any apreciable levels of toxins from any acrylic based restorative materials. As w/ anything foreign introduced into the human body there is at least some form of irrititation. Camphorquinone which is the catalyst for any of the light cured materials has been shown to be somewhat cytotoxic, but all of it is essentially used up in the curing process. Theoretically if you are using a curing light that is old or malfunctioning then some of this could leach out, but the amount would be negligible. When you get right down to it the mouth is a cauldron of disease. Every known bacteria has been isolated in the human mouth, so perhaps the question may not be whether dental treatment increases toxicity, rather is it the dental condition? If the body is sick the mouth will be a reflection of that lack of health. I have personally diagnosed cancer, diabetes, malnutrition,etc., many times long before the patient or their physicians found them. One final thought. As w/ any service some do it well, and others do not. There is a definite difference in quality of treatment w which practioner you see, and in what country you see them.

I work aprox. 60-70 hours week. How many of you do that?

Dude, I am computer engineer. I work 8 hours/d at 1st job, then usually 1-2 hour more at 2nd job, then usually I go home and spend around 4 hours learning new programming languages and techniques. Every day.

On to next thing, since you are dentist, I wonder would you tell me something about toxicity of white fillings (BPA). Is this overstated? Does it happen when I chew (as with mercury) or only on installation ? Thx.

[Cobraman]

If a root canal is done properly and the practioner can clean the hollow area inside the tooth(the root canal system) and seal it w/ an inert filler any toxic materials will not be measureable(essentially non existant). The problem is that aprox. 10% of root canals fail due to cracks, missed canals, virulent bacteria, or operator error. We can only accurate clean the macroscopic and hope our medicaments dissolve the precursors to toxins that lie in the microscopic pathways off the main chamber. Many dentists will not tell you that there is a 10% failure rate,(many don't know) but the studies bear this out. Nothing wrong w/ doing the root canal, just inform patient and offer alteratives if they fall in the 10%. The biggest thing is would someone rather be missing a tooth or count on a 90% success rate? Most take the 90%. As far as Replacement goes dental implants offer a wonderful option for those who choose to have a tooth extracted. These are manufactured from surgical grade titanium. It has long been known that the oxide of titanium that forms instantly on the surface is completely inert in the human body. If if was not bone would not deposit on them and they would not integrate. The body would in effect push them out. Once integrated (w/ no toxins) a tooth shaped crown can be bonded to them.

I agree with last post. We welcome inputs, especially from a practicing dentist! This forum does say a lot of disparaging things about the toxicity of dental work, so we could use more balance. But lets stick to vitamin C and toxicity! thx.

Now, one of the things I have never been clear about listening and reading Hal Huggins, is what would you replace a root canal with if you remove it???