| The three main root end tooth infections are | | | | |
| | | | the patient's defense system was poor and |
| called granulomas,cysts and condensing | | | | the |
| osteitis. | | | | |
| | | | body was trying to wall off the infected |
| Granulomas and cysts, though they appear to | | | | area |
| be | | | | |
| | | | with dense bone in order to contain its |
| quite similar, have distinctly different | | | | effects.However, the tissue as the root end |
| | | | was |
| characteristics.Fistulas are channels that | | | | |
| carry pus from the | | | | incapable of controlling the bacterial |
| | | | growth |
| infection area to the outside of the face or | | | | |
| | | | in these cases and consequently some |
| | | | bacteria |
| mouth. They help the body drain away | | | | |
| excessive | | | | escaped through the bloodstream and set up |
| | | | |
| amounts of pus.Condensing osteitis is rarely | | | | diseases in other areas.Dr. Price also noted |
| mentioned as a | | | | the teeth of such patients |
| | | | |
| root end infection process, but Dr. Price | | | | became more tender and painful than those |
| | | | cases |
| found its presense to be accompanied by some | | | | |
| | | | that appeared to be more seriously |
| very specific infection related | | | | involved.These observations by Price are so |
| reactions.Dr. Price made bacteriologic | | | | diametrically |
| examinations of | | | | |
| | | | opposite to the average dentist's view and |
| three different dental infection areas. | | | | |
| | | | comprehension of what is occurring that many |
| To his surprise, he found, for the most part | | | | |
| | | | will have difficulty accepting these |
| that no matter how large an involved area or | | | | findings, |
| | | | |
| | | | in spite of the fact they were derived from |
| how much pus was flowing, comparatively few | | | | |
| | | | studies of 1400 patients.Numbers of case |
| bacteria were present. He interpreted this | | | | history examples were mentioned |
| | | | |
| to mean the body's white blood cells and | | | | in this chapter to lend insight into these |
| | | | |
| other defense mechanisms had good control of | | | | different infections and their effects. |
| | | | Included |
| the infection process present.Furthermore, | | | | |
| in such cases he found patients | | | | was a picture of cancer of the lower jaw |
| | | | below |
| to be in relatively good overall health and | | | | |
| | | | the roots of three lower front teeth which |
| that they did not exhibit the expected signs | | | | |
| | | | appear to be a typical dental infection.Such |
| and symptoms of systemic illness.Dr. Price | | | | examples were shown to emphasize there are |
| reasoned that the large areas of | | | | |
| | | | other dental disease conditions than those |
| bone destruction and pus about these | | | | |
| infected | | | | mentioned, but they represent a much smaller |
| | | | |
| areas were not a measure of the severity of | | | | proportion of cases and are not indicative |
| | | | of |
| infection, so commonly believed, but were in | | | | |
| | | | the average person's experience.About |
| actuality expressing the goodness of the | | | | author: |
| | | | |
| nvolved patient's immune defense | | | | Dr. George Meinig,D.D.S.,F.A.C.D. is a |
| capability.He (Dr. Price) further found that | | | | Founder of the Association of Root Canal |
| though the | | | | Specialists Discovers Evidence That Root |
| | | | Canals |
| organisms spread locally, they did not | | | | |
| spread | | | | Damage Your Health Learn What to Do. |
| | | | |
| to other parts of the body until the | | | | Learn how Dr. George Meinig discovered that |
| infection | | | | a meticulous 25 year |
| | | | |
| had persisted for a prolonged period of | | | | research program, conducted by Weston A. |
| time.Condensing osteitis cases proved to be | | | | Price, DDS, under the auspices of the |
| quite | | | | American Dental Association's Research |
| | | | Institute, was buried by disbelievers of the |
| different. This condition exhibits a very | | | | focal infection theory. |
| | | | |
| dense area of bone, sometimes with very | | | | Along the way, Dr. Meinig has received many |
| little | | | | recognition citatons and awards, both |
| | | | Nationally and internationally. |
| loss of bone at the tooth's root end.Patient | | | | |
| histories and in-depth studies revealed | | | | For further information: |
| | | | |
| that people exhibiting condensing osteitis | | | | Visit: |
| | | | |
| suffered more serious consequences from | | | | Edited and prepared by Sung Lee, alternate |
| their | | | | authorThis article can be reprinted freely |
| | | | online as long as the entire |
| infections. Price surmised that in such a | | | | |
| case | | | | article with resource box are included. |