PropertyValue
?:author
?:datePublished
  • 2014-10-30 (xsd:date)
?:headline
  • Have 97 Percent of Terminal Cancer Victims Undergone Root Canals? (en)
?:inLanguage
?:itemReviewed
?:mentions
?:reviewBody
  • Fear of root canal dental procedures (extending past the discomfort of the procedure itself to long-term health effects) is far older than the internet. The fairly recent belief that root canals are specifically linked to cancer has circulated periodically online, typically in the form of a rumor that 97 percent of terminal cancer patients had previously undergone root canal procedures — suggesting a link between the dental procedure and the development of terminal cancer: In recent years, the claim about root canals and cancer risk has gained traction due to a 2012 article published to the website of Dr. Joseph Mercola, a vocal supporter of a number of discredited or dubious medical beliefs who has decried artificial sweeteners, microwaves, and sunscreen as major lurking dangers in everyday life. In the Mercola root canal article, the century-old work of Dr. Weston Price was referenced as proof positive that endodontics and cancer death go hand in hand, positing that Dr. Price's discoveries have since been discounted and suppressed by medical and dental professionals wishing to bury the truth: By the time Price died in 1948, the focal infection theory he had researched decades earlier had already begun to fall out of favor among medical professionals. By the 1950s it was considered to be an outdated fringe belief, and endodontic research in the half century since then has turned up no evidence to support a causal link between root canals and cancer. However, the myth of cancer-causing endodontics persists. On a page addressing root canal myths, the American Association of Endodontists explained: While the viral claim suggests modern endodontics practitioners buried Price's research, in actuality the American Association of Endodontists (AAE) addressed his findings directly and detailed why they did not stand up to basic modern standards in research: The 97 percent figure commonly cited in the root canal cancer link claim is typically attributed to Dr. Josef Issels, a German physician who allegedly reported that in his 40 years of treating 'terminal' cancer patients, 97 percent of his cancer patients had root canals. Of course, it's quite likely that 97 percent of Dr. Issels' cancer patients had also consumed marshmallows at some point, but in the absence of any documented causative factor, that statement demonstrates nothing more than a spurious correlation. And Dr. Issels was a promoter of alternative cancer therapy regimens who was charged with manslaughter in 1961 after three cancer patients died while under his care. In fact, the AAE noted that research published in 2013 concluded that individuals who underwent multiple endodontic treatments actually experienced a 45 percent reduced risk of cancer. (en)
?:reviewRating
rdf:type
?:url