Inflammation of the lining of the coronary arteries has been known for some time to be at the root of virtually all coronary atherosclerosis that eventually leads to partially obstructive lesions, the acute formation of an occluding blood clot, and the resulting heart attack that is the number one cause of death in the United States.

However, little to no attention has been paid to trying to figure out why those coronary arteries become inflamed in the first place. Is inflammation a natural part of the aging and/or degenerative process in the coronary arteries? The answer is a most resounding "NO."

The most dominant cause of heart attacks

For many years as well, it has also been known that periodontal disease, which is a chronic inflammation/infection of the gums in the mouth, is strongly "associated" with coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction (heart attack). It should also be noted that multiple studies reveal that atherosclerotic plaque and the lining of diseased coronary arteries routinely have identifiable pathogens present, a finding that is never normal.

But this bacterial seeding is precisely why inflammation "starts" in the diseased coronary artery. Infection/pathogen colonization always consumes local antioxidant stores and inflammation results.

Inflammation never just "appears" for no reason at all

A relatively small handful of the better heart surgeons in the country would insist upon an examination of the mouth as part of their pre-operative evaluations, especially when contemplating heart valve surgery. If there was a lot of gum disease and/or evidence of any infected teeth, this had to be resolved as best as possible before proceeding with the planned surgery.

The very sound logic for this evaluation was that infection in the mouth could end up infecting the heart post-operatively. The fact that only a few surgeons have followed and continue to follow this protocol remains clear evidence that even our finest and most respected physicians in the country remain largely unaware of this most critical mouth disease / heart disease connection.

It is extremely important that both physicians and dentists become fully aware of this mouth-body interplay

In fact, the importance of the mouth-body connection is overwhelmingly significant in how it impacts the public health. Chronic dental infections cause more substantial disease and early death than any other singular condition, by far.

Dental infections nearly always occur in confined, oxygen-starved microenvironments, a situation that makes many otherwise harmless bacteria and assorted pathogens become exceptionally toxic.

The work of Dr. Hal Huggins and Dr. Boyd Haley over the past 20 years has confirmed the exceptional work that Dr. Weston Price performed almost a century ago. Their results established that deep-seated dental infections, when deprived of oxygen, produce enormously potent toxins, some of which are many-fold more toxic than even botulinum toxin when tested on their ability to inhibit critical human enzymes involved in energy production.

And this is in light of the fact that botulinum toxin is still considered by mainstream medicine to be the most toxic substance ever identified. Yet, as impressive as the work of Huggins, Haley, and Price is, most physicians and dentists either remain unaware of it, or they simply choose not to acknowledge its validity.

Conventional dentistry refuses to recognize the truth about oral pathogens

Chronic periodontal disease has ultimately pointed the way to realize, along with the work of the pioneering researchers noted above, that the ultimate, most clinically devastating dental infection is the root canal-treated tooth. Huggins and Haley found potent pathogen-generated toxins in 100% of over 5,000 consecutive extracted root canal-treated teeth, while normal teeth extracted for orthodontic purposes demonstrated no such toxicity.

The simple fact, still remaining to be properly realized and embraced, is that nothing really comes close to the negative impact of root canal-treated teeth in terms of the numbers of people who end up with life-altering chronic degenerative diseases and early death.