SPEAKER 1: Am I on? I don’t hear you.
DR. SMITH: Okay, hello. All right, we’re really getting a lot more questions and a lot of things coming up as you learn more and more. I know a lot more questions come up in the mind, and our panel, hopefully you can cover any of the talks we’ve given in the upcoming panel right after lunch. Hopefully we’ll be able to answer your questions satisfactorily.
This talk is on mainly healing reactions, but we want to talk a little bit first on dental guidelines as relates to the Gerson therapy. We’re not dentists, we’re not experts, but there are some things that we know we want to share, and then we’ve invited a guest lecturer, a dentist locally who is a holistic dentist, to come this afternoon, and he’ll be able to tell you more specifics about holistic dentistry and mercury and root canals and all that. So this one is just the overview from the Gerson perspectives.
It is important to know that the condition of our teeth and our gums and our periodontal tissues has a great impact on your health. We’re realizing that more and more. If there’s inflammation and microbes and abscesses; even there can be little occult abscesses down in the roots and under the gums that people don’t even realize, that harbor germs. This is a constant stress on the immune system. We’re finding more and more, related to heart disease and even certain cancers are now being associated with gum disease.
It’s always recommended when you see a dentist to find what we call a biological dentist. There’s an organization that some of them belong to, the International Association of Oral and Medical Toxicology. You can Google that, and you can probably search from your area, in the area you live, for a good dentist.
As I already mentioned, the bacteria that’s down in the pockets under your gums enter the bloodstream easily. How many of you have ever seen a little blood on your toothbrush, or when you’re flossing? Well, you have an open invitation right into the bloodstream for the bacteria that’s in your mouth, just like a cut here. You’d want to protect it. You wouldn’t want a cut being exposed constantly to bacteria; you’d take care of it and cover it up. But in our mouth, we’re constantly getting that influx of bacteria into the little micro-tears, and particularly if we have gingivitis and the gums bleed easily. It’s important to get that taken care of.
It’s been associated particularly with heart disease and hypertension, low birth weight babies, osteoporosis, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, they’re showing some associations here. I found a preliminary study found a small but significant risk of developing cancer overall, and particularly lung cancer in smokers with periodontal disease. That’s when it’s gone down and the bone is starting, with all the inflammation, we’re losing bone from the roots of the teeth.
There was a study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, and Dana-Farber found periodontal disease was associated with an increased risk of cancer in the pancreas. This is preliminary, but it’s pointing in that direction.
I’m sure Dr. Benigar [sp] is going to talk about this specifically, but particularly if you’re dealing with an illness, get your teeth checked out and get anything taken care of that might be there that you don’t know about, cavities and abscesses and so on, and then get on a good program that they will prescribe of the right way to brush, floss, and irrigate, to flush out the pockets.
Then we have the silver mercury amalgam fillings, that we know that mercury is very toxic. It compromises the immune system. However, for a Gerson patient who is seriously ill with cancer, we say wait six to nine months on the therapy to get thoroughly detoxed and stronger before you get those removed. Again, you do it with a biological dentist that does it with the safe procedures – I’m sure he’ll go through this, with the rubber dam, with suction. Sometimes they give oxygen so you definitely don’t get any of the vapors as it’s coming out. Some give IV vitamin C while that’s going on, to quench the toxic mercury. But make sure that it’s done in a safe way.
Biocompatibility testing is a possibility for what you’re going to put back in. I can’t really address that, but what goes back in will be less toxic than mercury. But as one dentist said, we’re going to realize, if we haven’t already, that dentistry is toxic. I mean, they use cements and binders and things in their crowns and all. Sometimes there’s aluminum.
But the biocompatibility testing, they test the blood for all the different substances that are used in putting in a filling or a crown, and see which ones your immune system doesn’t have a real problem with. So it’s at least a little better.
Root canals, there’s a lot of literature out there, and there’s a good book, The Root Canal Cover-Up. You probably talked about it; we sell it. We don’t recommend that you get a root canal. You’ll have to make that decision. I know that you’ll have to do something, if the tooth is so far gone that it can’t be restored, whether it’s a bridge or a partial plate, whatever. But bacteria reside down in those little tubules in the teeth, and you really can’t sterilize a tooth where we think that bacteria doesn’t still hide there and slowly accumulate and secrete toxins that can be a factor in the development of cancer.
Dr. Hal Huggins is really doing a lot of research in this area. I don’t know if I got the book out. He has a brand new book. I know he’s a little controversial, even among the other dentists, but he’s a forerunner in researching dentistry. This is a rather new book, so it isn’t on your PowerPoints, but Patient Empowerment: How to Slay Dental Dragons. He talks about all the diseases he’s seen in his practice, and then he’s related it to what’s in their mouth. He really is doing research on not just the bacteria, but the toxins those bacteria secrete, and correlating it with breast cancer, for one thing. Really good book.
We think root canal teeth should be extracted as soon as possible. If someone is very debilitated and weak, of course, wait. Get a little stronger with the nourishment on the therapy. Get a little more detoxified and nourished, because it is surgery. It’ll still take a bit of a stress on the system. We think it’s probably a good idea to get them out, but at least consult with a good biological dentist. I don’t think the implants, personally, are any – I would still stay away from anything going back down in there as a substitute, myself.
So as I mentioned, The Root Canal Cover-Up is a good book. They did studies, and they took root canal teeth, someone that had a root canal, and then they took that root canal out, and they implanted it under the skin of a rabbit. Within so many days – I can’t remember how long – that rabbit developed the same condition that the person had. At least, that’s what the study says, so it’s food for thought.
We get a lot of questions about this, because it’s in Charlotte’s book: when you’re very well detoxified, you may be more sensitive to things, and perhaps to the anesthesia that the dentist uses. So it says to ask the dentist to use less, maybe a third. I don’t know how often they’ll comply with that, but you can try.
SPEAKER 1: You know what, what I would suggest, if you’re really concerned, because I had two opportunities to ask a dentist to comply. I actually took the book rather than just relaying the information. The first time, the dentist used the regular amount, and my heart started beating, felt like it was going to jump right out of my chest. It really scared me. I think if you mention that to the dentist, if he’s not willing to reduce the amount – most will be – he’ll see that some of that might be his responsibility if he doesn’t listen. I think it just might give you a better opportunity. Another dentist told me that it doesn’t matter how much you have; it matters how the substance is injected into your gum, and you miss the blood cell.
DR. SMITH: It could be the epinephrine, and they don’t always use that anymore, particularly a biological dentist, unless they know someone has a real strong possible allergy to something they’re using. The epinephrine they give to constrict the blood vessels can cause the rapid heart rate. But if they use a less dose and they start right away so that it doesn’t wear off so soon – but it’s going to be up to you and each patient’s tolerance to pain. They don’t want somebody to get halfway through the procedure and they can’t stand it anymore. Of course, on the dentist’s side, you can see why they want to have it well anesthetized.
A lot of vitamin C. Vitamin C can decrease the effects of the anesthesia, so a lot of times dentists say don’t take it before you come in. But you certainly could start taking it soon as you leave that office, start taking a lot of vitamin C, maybe a gram every hour. That will help detoxify out the anesthesia, as well as any other substances that they’ve used.
SPEAKER 1: Then Charlotte will say, as soon as you get home, do a coffee enema.
DR. SMITH: Of course, yeah. Toothpaste, don’t use fluoridated toothpaste. Don’t do anything fluoridated. Or baking soda. Now, baking soda’s been known, it’s a healthy thing for the gums, but it does contain some sodium, so we don’t recommend baking soda. But for the toothpaste, toothpaste is mainly just so that your mouth tastes fresh. The real work is done through brushing and dislodging that biofilm with your irrigation, with your flossing. So it’s a tiny bit of toothpaste to go around at the end, makes your mouth taste fresher. But you don’t need to use much.
There’s one that always seems to not get on the table, that I really like. People ask, it’s Weleda’s Children Gel. You look at that, it has about three ingredients in it. Very clean, and tastes good. Vitamere has some other herbs in it. We think that’s pretty safe. But look for extra sodium and fluoride, and of course you don’t want things like lauryl sulfate. So just check the brands really good.
Environmental Working Group has a wonderful website, and they go into all these different categories, rating body care products, general household cleaning products, and so on. Sometimes they might rate something pretty high, and yet because of Gerson it might have sodium in it, so you have to look at the added things that Gerson wouldn’t allow. But as far as the other chemicals, they’re a great website. Environmentalworkinggroup.com.
SPEAKER 1: And remember, yesterday I told you at the end of that section, Home Setup, there’s several sheets that tell you what contaminates in the toothpaste to watch out for.
DR. SMITH: Floss after meals, irrigate daily. For those people that are more susceptible to cavities, you probably know who you are, we suggest that after a carrot juice that you rinse your mouth well, just in case that extra natural sugar will increase the incidences of cavities. But it’s interesting, Dr. Huggins has got some interesting theories about cavities. He says not that we should eat sugar, but he doesn’t feel like that’s the main culprit either. It has to do with the flow of the juices and the saliva in and out of the tooth, and things that can prevent that.
At the end of this section in your manual, we’ve got some resources. I don’t know Robert Gammal; it’s just that I looked at his website, and it’s just a wealth of information that I think you can look through and might find helpful. And then this is a good YouTube on alternatives to mercury filling. We’re not saying that we’re personally recommending, but it’s good information.
