FOCAL DISTURBANCES

Often, especially in chronic illness, blockages to healing occur in areas of the body distant from the area where symptoms are arising. These blockages to healing are called focal disturbances. The most common areas where focal disturbances occur in chronic illnesses are:

• Teeth;
• Tonsils;
• Sinuses;
• Gastrointestinal tract;
• Pelvis;
• Emotions.

Focal disturbances are like islands in the body that are cut off from normal nerve and blood flow. Hidden focal infections may develop in these areas, especially in the jaw and teeth. The microorganisms in these infections are actually able to travel to other areas of the body and cause problems. When focal problems are present, regular supplement programs often fall short. This is one reason why people who are taking many supplements, and who may be one of those few people who actually eat a healthy diet, still remain ill.

Other areas of focal disturbances are the intestines (food allergies, yeast, chronic bacterial overgrowth), old surgical scars and areas of chronic intermittent infections.

How can we find these areas of focal disturbances?

• History and physical exam;
• Computerized Thermography;
• Autonomic response testing, a type of kinesiology that determines imbalances in your autonomic or subconscious nervous system, and reveals focal disturbances;
• Heart rate variability testing.

These tests are all described in Part II. Once these focal disturbances are determined, the next step is to determine how to go about eliminating blockages to your healing process.

BASIC TRUTHS ABOUT DENTAL HEALTH

Dentistry is a critical component of biological medicine’s overall approach. Tooth problems are often at the root of a wide variety of acute and chronic health conditions. Dental foci account for a large proportion of regulatory blockages and obstructions to healing. Each tooth lies on the meridian lines of the body, and problem teeth can create havoc further up or down the line.

Five areas of dental foci include:

• Periodontal and gum disease;
• Mercury fillings:
• Root canals:
• Impacted wisdom teeth:
• Dental cavitations.

A common problem found on dental exams is a mouth full of amalgam fillings. Amalgam literally means, “mixed with mercury.” Mercury accounts for fifty percent of the metal material used in dental fillings. Except for plutonium, mercury is probably the most toxic element known.

While mercury has been used in dental fillings for more than 160 years, its use has always been controversial. Beginning in the 1830’s when it was first introduced, and then again in the 1920’s and most recently in the 1970’s, many dentists, doctors and scientists have argued that mercury leaches out of the filling material and accumulates in body tissue. The most common sites of detrimental influences are the nervous system, brain, and kidneys. Many research studies now confirm amalgam-filling leaching. This leaching occurs in part through chewing and drinking hot liquids, and also through electrical currents that are produced by metal fillings and other metal appliances in the conductive salt-water environment of the mouth. The mercury vapor and particles change into methyl mercury, a very poisonous chemical that can travel anywhere in the body.

While the American Dental Association argues that the amounts of mercury released into the body are insignificant, it is becoming increasingly clear that even a small amount, perhaps as little as a few micrograms, may severely disrupt cellular function. Recent research shows that the average mouthful of amalgam fillings releases up to 150 micrograms of mercury per day. This means ongoing poisoning, especially for those individuals who are particularly sensitive or allergic to mercury.

Having mercury present in the body seriously weakens the immune system by inactivating the ability of white blood cells to process waste. This makes us much more vulnerable to developing chronic infections and autoimmune reactions. Mercury is also a neurotoxin that crosses the blood-brain barrier. It also depletes kidney function. Mercury toxicity has been linked to neurological problems, gastrointestinal symptoms, sleep disturbances, gum and mouth disorders, and many other illnesses and disorders. Mercury crosses the placental barrier and may be transferred to infants via breast milk. Interestingly enough, the only legal place to put mercury, which is an EPA-regulated hazardous waste, is in your mouth.

Root canal treated teeth present another common dental problem Studies done in the 1930’s by Dr. Weston Price, a well-known dental research scientist, showed that root canal-treated teeth were always infected, even if the infection was asymptomatic. Dr. Price performed a series of experiments in which he placed the root canal treated teeth of his patients who had degenerative diseases under the skin of laboratory animals, usually rabbits. In almost every case, the animal came down with the very same disease as the patient. When he placed a healthy, non-root-canal treated tooth under the skin of other rabbits, the animal would remain healthy.

His studies revealed that very toxic bacterial forms are associated with root canal-treated teeth. Furthermore, these bacterial proteins targeted organs or areas of the body that were already compromised or weak. Once the tooth was removed and the infection cleared up, those areas tended to recover fairly quickly. Dr. Price noticed that around 30% of his patients had immune systems strong enough to handle their own root canal-treated teeth. That is, they did not show symptoms of illness until their “disease barrel” received some additional load. An example of this was a trauma, a case of the flu, or some mental/emotional stress that overwhelmed their system and allowed the root canal-treated tooth bacteria to compromise the immunity and initiate a serious degenerative disease. In reference to the 30% of patients that could handle a root canal-treated tooth, keep in mind that this was seventy years ago. Most people’s immune systems were stronger at that time, unless there were sanitary problems that overwhelmed them with infections. Today, with the much larger amount of refined sugar intake, which weakens the immune system, along with many other immune system stresses unknown then, the situation is different.

Dead and infected teeth begin with dental decay and may progress to bone infection. These infections, which are often painless, have direct access to veins in the jaw and can spread from there into the brain. Dr. Price’s research showed that dental decay was a systemic problem, not just a tooth and mouth problem. Biological physicians have found that root canal-treated teeth and dead teeth are associated with a wide range of serious diseases, including cancer. Of the many breast cancer patients Dr. Thomas Rau at Paracelsus Klinik in Switzerland has treated, almost all have had a root canal-treated tooth in a premolar or molar tooth. These are the teeth that are on the same vital energy meridian system that travels through the breasts.

Impacted wisdom teeth are also associated with chronic conditions, especially small intestine impairment, heart problems, migraines and emotional disturbances such as depression. Impacted wisdom teeth are almost always considered ”foci” and removal is recommended, even if no particular disease appears to be present.

Finally, dental cavitations, which are areas of improperly healed bone from previous tooth extractions, are common dental foci. Mainly, these are caused when the dentist who removed the tooth has left the periodontal ligament in place. This is the structure that unites bone and tooth, and contains the toxic material from the dead or dying tooth. Leaving this ligament in the socket means that the bone cannot heal properly. The toxic material is now sealed in place, chronically seeping into the body. Cavitations remain dental foci unless they can be cleaned out with a special dental “burr.” This is a process that allows the bone to firmly heal and the toxic material to be suctioned away. The bone may also be injected with homeopathic and isopathic remedies to promote healing.

Many other dental problems may affect a person’s health. By incorporating biological dentistry into its overall treatment regime, Biological Medicine makes a truly holistic commitment to a person’s health. No longer is the mouth divorced from the medical arena. All parts of the body remain integral to the whole body as one biological system, energetically connected and dynamically regulated to adapt, react, respond and be able to make healthy interchanges with the living world around us.

To summarize:

1. Anything done in the mouth has an effect upon the total body. Tooth decay and periodontal disease are not local problems;

2. Mercury is poisonous. Other heavy metals in tooth fillings are also often toxic;

3. Mixing metallic restorations always creates bioelectrical imbalances;

4. All root canal teeth are infected. These infections may have effects elsewhere in the body;

5. Jawbone infections are very common and can adversely affect our general health;

6. Doctor and dentist working together serve your health.