Scary Truth Of Having A Toxic Mouth Part 1
I mean that title literally. I am not talking about the words that come out of your mouth and what that can do. I am meaning this in the most literal fashion. My mouth is making me sick and here is an inside look to the twist life has given me that I am choosing to share.
The last couple of months haven’t been easy for me physically and emotionally. If I am honest, I can look back and notice symptoms that have been occurring for years but the symptoms got progressively worse in the last few months. It started with my jaw clicking when I would open it wide to it literally being frozen to only opening about 3 quarters of the way to a chronic ache in my jaw. It never was the traditional tooth pain symptoms. It has always been a gnawing bone pain in my jaw. But, then all the other symptoms hit….my clothes stopped fitting, the right side of my body would ache, I would be exhausted all day everyday, brain fog, memory lapses, headaches plus swollen lymph nodes on the right side of my neck, mood imbalanced, sinus issues and my thyroid not functioning optimally.
As I brushed off each individual symptom as they would come and go and the only consistent one being the jaw pain, I didn’t know what was happening but I thought maybe it was something emotional and the pain was from clenching my teeth at night from it. As I was meditating one day, it was as if I had flashbacks of all the times I had heard, seen and even read information around root canals and the negative effects they can have on your health that I knew my root canal was infected.
As you may or may not know I am a holistically trained registered nurse so my brain, thoughts and the way I treat and respond to my body or ailments that show up is completely different than what most do. I do not run to get meds. I explore and learn to get answers. So, the first step was a confirmation of what I deeply believed to be the culprit of my pain. Upon x-rays from the dentist, he could see the infection at the root of my root canal treated tooth.. Step two was to find my next step. Now, my next step was not just for this particular tooth but I have three root canal treated teeth and so if I was going to go down the path of healing my mouth I knew I had to go all in to allow full healing to occur which meant I need to take care of my other two root canals as well. By taking care of means, I need to get them extracted.
As I have been learning more around the health impact of oral health for the entire body, what root canals can do to one’s overall health and the specific organs that can be affected by the bacteria or the meridian in which the treated tooth lies, things started to make sense. I was diagnosed with Hashimotos in 2010. I had always thought it was solely diet-related. I since discovered that I was gluten intolerant and once I adjusted my diet and started using supplements to support my inflammatory system as well as using essential oils for my thyroid I was able to manage my thyroid health naturally. But, what I had learned is that two of my root canal treated teeth lie on the meridian of my thyroid. That means they are in direct communication with one another.
When the dead tissue of the tooth is sitting there on that meridian it will impact the proper flow of that energy line. So, this infection on that meridian line would be negatively impacting my thyroid health. The weight gain, mood imbalances, skin issues, brain fog, exhaustion are all signs of a thyroid imbalance as well. Who knows what bacteria is brewing under there but I will be finding out after then send it to the laboratory to get tested.
It’s not like it’s new knowledge that the bacteria in the mouth can impact the body. I even remember learning in nursing school how an oral infection can cause heart problems. I think what is misunderstood and often not thought about is the root canal still is infected or creating a bacterial playground inside your mouth. I can tell you, it never crossed my mind because after the root canal was gone, so was the pain which meant the infection must be gone too. Well more on that in part two.
So, I know the root of my pain now which helped calm my mind tremendously because at times I would guess am I making this up? Is this just a psychosomatic thing that’s occurring? Don’t get me wrong. I believe everything physical thing also has an emotional tie but what is going on inside my mouth won’t fully heal unless I deal with the physical side of it as well. Which leads to the next question you may be thinking… why haven’t I gone and gotten the tooth taken out yet?
Well for one, it needs to be done properly so it is done right. The one doing the procedure needs to be trained in this particular process. If I am experiencing bone pain then my jaw bone has been affected and I want it done as naturally as possible. For two, those that specialize in this type of work have waitlists. So, I have been busy supporting my body as much as possible in the meantime but will be heading to Texas next month to get a four-hour oral surgery.
While I wait I have been trying to do what I can to support my body, immune system, and pain with herbal tinctures, liposomal vitamin c, getting sunlight, being in nature, taking probably 15 plus pills of supplements everyday, oil pulling, applying clove oil to the gums, getting sleep but also supporting myself emotionally and recognizing whenever I step towards the shame spiral of all that I “should” be doing and how I need to suck it up and do XYZ. Instead, I notice the spiral and take a step out and honor what my body needs right now. Emotionally that is not easy. I am a go-typeof person so I have had to shift that go energy that is usually outward to inwards. Make this journey my comfort zone push and challenge. Which to be honest is the hardest part. I can deal with pain. It’s being emotionally, creatively and physically exhausted that takes the biggest toll on me.
With that my desire is to continue to write about this surprising journey. With the goal to be authentic with the experience and to educate on my whys and reasonings. Granted I am not an expert in this field but I will share with you how things make sense to me. This series of blogs will be a peak into what has been occurring for me. Who knows who will benefit from my journey but it is nice to sit and write about it. Life always has good reasons for you. I have been on a path to heal both physically, emotionally and spiritually for the last decade and to be honest it feels like this was under the surface and buried just waiting for the “right” time to emerge. That this infection has been there chronically but not causing the obvious symptoms it is now. I think that is because our bodies are so wise that 2-3 years ago if this would have popped up I wouldn’t have had the tools or the emotional capacity to go through it. So, here it is now. Something that desperately is needed to be taken care of and another path to healing on this deep physical level is in motion.
If you would like to learn more about root canals and the impact they can have here are some places to start.
Root Cause Documentary https://rootcausemovie.com/
The Toxic Tooth https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Tooth-canal-could-making/dp/0983772827/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+toxic+tooth&qid=1579830074&sr=8-1
Stay tuned for more on my journey.
