root canal for breastfeeding mother?

[Sarahfina]

I have just been informed that my top back tooth is in need of a root canal. I am suffering from slight pain (1 on the scale of 1-10) and have also been told that leaving it for now would not worsen the situation. I am a breastfeeding mother of a 15mnth old, who I intend to CLW, so likely will be breastfeeding for many more years. I do plan to have more children too.

I have spent the last couple hours reading as much as I can, both on this forum and on the IAOMT website and understand the concerns with working with mercury on a bf mother. The tooth that needs the root canal has a filling in it- the mercury kind, which is the kind I have in all my fillings, and I have lots...

This would be my second root canal.

I am currently in Israel, and dental work here is very cheep...the whole thing would run me about $150. In less than a month I'll be home in Canada, where it will be roughly $1000, but I could find a dentist there who would practice safer procedures...thats a significant difference finacially, although I dont want to make a choice based on the money...

I'm wondering what others would do in this situation. Although the general area of my mouth constantly hurts ever so slightly it is bareable. Although I do know that it wont always hurt this little! I'm concerned that the dentist here won't take precations for safe mecury removal, but I will discuss it with him. Also, what do you fill your root canal with? Gold??

Thanks so much for the suggestions, I'm feeling really really overwhelmed, and if I am goign to do it here, I need to start in the next couple days...ugg...

Sarahfina.

[JaneS]

I don't think you can b/c the filling would have to be drilled out correct? I would just have it pulled and be done with it if it's way in back. I don't think root canals are healthy anyways b/c they will constantly harbor bacteria. It's not possible to sterilize *all* the tubules.

[Sarahfina]

Yeah I guess pulling it is one of my options....would you pull it and just leave the hole- an implant is like 3500$!!

[kaPOW!]

A lot of the folks on this board are pretty concerned about root canals. I am as well, but I'd entertain getting one to preserve my tooth; the tooth can always be pulled later, IMO.

At this point it's really the mercury that is the big issue, I think. I was in a similar position as you, but was having work done on a couple of mercury laden teeth in the hopes that I'd avoid a root canal by addressing the issue. I found a referral on the IAOMT website and she removed the filling while using a high-suction device that surrounded the tooth while she worked on it (with a little window for her to access the tooth-it's hard to describe). I also followed a strict diet for a week prior and after and gave my son a lot of pumped milk during the week following. This was all done with a great deal of consideration and after multiple viisits to a naturopath to discuss my options, which I futher researched and adjusted based on safety issues.

My son is so far okay but mercury is an accumulative thing so with the rest of these fillings in my mouth who knows if he'll have any future problems. Anyway, I know you're in a tough position and it's hard to make a decision. A lot of the moms here have faced it. If you do decide to have the work done, I'd encourage you to seek ways to mitigate the damage by talking to a good naturopath and researching everything that you can. Good luck

[momto l&a]

I was nursing and had a tooth pulled. They wanted to give me a root canal I asked the price. Umm yeah no wonder they wanted me to have a root canal.

I took lots of Arnica and something else homeopathic. We made sure the 3 girls had enough movies for a couple of days. I also made soup before hand and used a blender on it to I wouldn't have to chew anything.

[twin monkeys]

I would see if they can go through your gums vs drilling and proper removal of all the mercury. I know I had one done that way while I was expecting I talked it over with the denitist and we both agreed it was the safer of the two however I was in a ton of pain so I had to have it done ASAP

[kaPOW!]

Originally Posted by twin monkeys

I would see if they can go through your gums vs drilling and proper removal of all the mercury. I know I had one done that way while I was expecting I talked it over with the denitist and we both agreed it was the safer of the two however I was in a ton of pain so I had to have it done ASAP

Wow, I've never heard of that. What was recovery like?

[moneca]

I'd pull it in a heartbeat and not risk the increased exposure to dc. Jane - do you still have the sink for root canal info done by Weston Price after his son's death?

[Viola]

My first root canal was an emergency one done through my gum, and the recovery honestly wasn't that bad. I had stitches, but I don't remember it being particularly painful.

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by moneca

I'd pull it in a heartbeat and not risk the increased exposure to dc. Jane - do you still have the sink for root canal info done by Weston Price after his son's death?

Yep!

Root Canal Cover-up

Much of Price's research is contained in two monumental volumes entitled Dental Infections Oral & Systemic and Dental Infections and the Degenerative Diseases. While these works have long been in the PPNF library, it was only just four years ago that the Foundation became aware of their importance. These volumes have moldered in obscurity because Dr. Price's research was suppressed and buried over 70 years ago by the autocratic action of a minority group of dentists and physicians who refused to accept the focal infection theory.

In spite of the thousands of experiments conducted on 5,000 animals, and in spite of the thoroughness and excellence of his root canal research, all of Price's 25 years of scientific efforts were so well covered up that there is hardly a dentist alive today who has ever heard about his discoveries...

I immediately realized, upon reading the volumes, that Dr. Price's research was thorough and sound. It was easy to see why he was so revered as a dental research specialist.

The gist of the research and of the thousands of animal studies is this: That root-canal-filled teeth always remain infected no matter how good they might look or how good they might feel.

Dr. Price suspected that bacterial infection accompanied many degenerative illnesses. In the beginning, he didn't know what bacteria were involved or just how they contributed to so many disease conditions. But he did recall that in medical practice doctors made cultures from the infection site, grew the organism present in a culture medium and then injected the bacteria into an animal to see if they could reproduce the disease and thereby prove it was the cause of the illness.

Dr. Price suspected that these infections arose from the teeth. He decided to implant an extracted root-filled tooth under the skin of an animal. He felt that if bacteria were present and carrying illness, their presence in a tooth might offer the same kind of proof physicians found when they injected the bacterial culture to produce disease in an animal. That is exactly what took place. He found that by implanting the root-filled tooth, the disease of the patient was transferred to animals. Whatever disease the patient had, the animal with the extracted tooth under its skin developed the same disease as the patient.

In other words, if the patient had heart disease, the animal developed heart disease. If he had kidney trouble, disease of the kidney was transferred to the animal. If he had a problem in his joints, the animals' joints became similarly involved. The principle held true for the whole spectrum of human ailments. Whatever the disease, the animal would develop that of the patient.
http://www.price-pottenger.org/Articles/Rootcanal.htm

[alternatives1]

wow, thanks for that info above!

[Sarahfina]

I've still yet to tackle the tooth that needs dealing with. I saw an IOMAT dentist today who recommended extraction and an implant. When I told him I couldn't aford the implant, he suggested the root canal...he seemed motivated by the costs???(profit) and wasn't too helpful...my remaining question is, if I get the tooth pulled, and dont get an implant, how will this affect the overall state of my jaw and remaining teeht...any ideas? good places to look for info??
Thanks
Sarahfina