A Quick Poll--Root Canals

Latte

root canals both sides - BC right side

eileen1955

here's the causal link I heard about; but don't have the time to research.

the real culprit is the aluminim that was used in dental fillings yrs ago.  Now they use amalgum. People who had aluminium for yrs and then needed root canals; that's where someone made the purported link to bc.

sorry to be so non-scientific.     BTW I have had loads of metal in my mouth and loads of root canals.  My sister is ten yrs younger than me so her cavities were filled with nice white amalgum and she has never needed a root canal.    no bc.           Just anecdotal evidence with a sample of two women!!       sometimes facts are just coincidental;not causal.   but if some researcher actually looked at this; they might start  on the cure for some bc.                        

elimar86861

Amalgam is the metallic looking dental material.  Composite resin looks tooth colored.  Aluminum is still an ingredient of the porcelain/ceramic filling (also tooth colored.)

Sorry to have veered off topic MariannaHB.  If anyone is truly concerned, let's just say you have a lot of Googling ahead of you

eileen1955

glad you clarified that.  I have to be honest, I'm just talking off the top of my head on this thread.

Question for elimar;   I pd extra $$ for my last porcelain crown so that it would have gold in it.  I trust my dentist but what do you think?

soulswithin

Dang I lost my post. grrrr

Breast cancer, left side

root canals both sides

I understand the bacteria theory, and have been aware of the deterioration under the root canals including TMJ, and bacterias hidden that we don't know about because we don't have any nerve endiings under a root canal to signal infection. It isn't until it spreads that we finally feel the pain and get misdiagnosed because the pain may be on the other side or jaw!

Other illnesses where you read about this bacteria problem are, Fibromyalgia, TMJ, CFS -chronic fatigue syndrome, heart problems, and also the deteriorated old fillings causing the toxic condition in the mouth.Fairly common discussions in those type forums. Some viral discussions also pointing to a breast cancer result, so go figure.

Mentioning the left breast cancer thing, I doubt if it's just that one thing about fillings or root canals. My wig lady has asked all her clients which breast, and most all said left. [including her and me]She found that interesting as well. When you factor in bruises, jobs that use one side of the breast, and all the things we may have done to trigger it somewhere, I doubt if we will ever pinpoint this question. I am curious too though. thnx for the post

kellyj

Men have breast tissue also.  Does the research show that this theory is sex specific? It would be odd if so, because a whole lot of men get root canals.  Also, one person said that biological dentists are trained at finding an infection before other dentists......how?  As far as I know, an xray is the only way to see the root of a tooth.  If a lesion appears at the apex of a tooth, it is infected.  If there is no lesion, no infection.  

thenewme

Good point, kellyj, about men and root canals!

crazy4carrots

kellyj -- I've been doing some reading on biological dentistry.  In answer to your question:  biological dentists are trained at finding an infection before other dentists......how?  it seems that biological dentists believe that infection exists in every root canal. So.. i suppose that if this is their belief, they don't really have to be trained to find it, do they?

There's a fair amount of info about this on the web, including Quackwatch....  Guess it's a matter of choosing whom to believe.

My mother never had any root canal work.  I, on the other hand, have had 3, all on the right.  My bc was in the left.

Lady_Madonna

No root canals, no cavaties!  Only had sealants on my teeth.  Also my tonsils were removed when I was 15.  I am young, slim, healthy (ha!), had my children in my early to mid 20s, breast-fed, never smoked, rarely drink, no bc family history, BRCA - ... there is just NO obvious reason why I have this disease! 

My bc is on my left side.  Maybe I missed something... what is the issue with the left side bc?  

Lady_Madonna

elimar, I'm an Aries!! 

Fearless_One

Root canals, left side.   BC, right.

kittycat

I had 5 root canals (I ran into the back of a parked car with my bike when I was 12).  My lower front teeth and one of my top teeth got the root canals.  Then, when I was in college, I had a dentist remove all of the root canals, bleach the inside of my teeth and redo the root canals.  On top of that, I had one of the lower teeth break on a bagel, so I got a cap.  One of my lower teeth had a crack in it below the gum line.  So, I had it extracted and had an implant put in place (gee, now I have a tooth and 2 breast implants - LOL).  I also had veneers put on my top 2 teeth.  One of them broke on a sandwich, so I had it capped.  Needless to say....  I've spent A LOT of time in the dental chair. 

BC dx - TWICE - on the right side.  I don't know if there is a connection.  I think I just have bad luck - LOL!!!

heartnsoul76

I've read about the connection before, and I have one root canal - right side - same as my breast cancer. I want to get it OUT! If my teeth start failing, I will end up looking like a toothless bum, rather than getting another root canal or an implant! I did get all my fillings replaced 2 years ago. I had to - one day I was brushing my teeth and 2 teeth had turned blue and my gums underneath them were blue. 1/4 of my mouth was blue because of mercury leaking! Skeptical people will tell you that's a myth, but I slam them down real fast with that one!

My root infection was never detected by an xray. It was in a small branch, but that didn't stop the dental assistants from zapping me at least half a dozen times over a period of about 6 weeks looking for it. I finally said, "Stop it! It's obviously not going to show up on these xrays!" By then, my jaws were almost frozen open - if my teeth even touched each other when I was talking it felt like somebody slammed my teeth with a sledgehammer for about 15 minutes. I thought I was going to die of a tooth infection like they did in the middle ages! Finally, they sent me to an endodontist where they used some electrical probe and I about hit the roof when they touched that gum. Okay...you scored 100% on that one. We can do the root canal today if you're interested. Um, yeah? However, it's been bothering me - on a small scale - ever since. I'm getting that sucker out as soon as I find someone who can do it correctly. But then, I'm not sure what you put in it's place. Hmmm....the mercury started leaking on the same side, too.

roseroscoe

My root canal was on the right side.  I had a carcinoma in the left breast. 

MsBliss

Root canal right upper molar; bc right side.  There is something odd going on here.  Time to get rid of this thing--but what do you replace it with?  A bridge or implant? 

AnnetteS

root canals everywhere and BC multiple spots in both breasts. hmmm

NativeMainer

Root canal right side, bc on left side

NativeMainer

Just out of curiosity I did a quick analysis of the postings so far:

out of 27 reports:

    44% have bc on the same side as root canal (includes root canal both sides with bc both sides)

   19% have bc on the opposide side from root canal

 of the 11 who had root canals on both side

   55% had bc on the right,

   27% on the left,

   18% have bc iin both sides

Assuming our sample of 27 is representative of the general population of females with bc, we would expect  33% of right sided-bc, 59% left sided, and 7% both sides. 

Very unscientifically, out sample suggests that having root canals on both sides increases the likelihood of bc being on the right side.  

This is interesting.  Not scientific, but interesting. 

Mandy1313

Never had a root canal; my teeth are pretty healthy for someone my age.

Breast cancer on both sides over a course of 23 years (1985, right side; entirely new and different cancer in  2008 left side).  BRCA negative.