Cancer and Dental Infections - Is There a Connection?
In my experience, most oncologists these days are not interested in determining the root cause of cancer. However, there is a body of evidence that relates cancer to a variety of environmental and immune system perturbations as potential causative factors that could help with the prevention of cancer. This not only includes the risk of breast cancer but other forms of cancer including prostate, colon and others.
I have had the privilege of learning about the link of breast cancer and chronic dental infections through a German dentist by the name of Dr. Lechner. He is a regular lecturer at the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, of which I am an active member. He published an article in 2021 describing the connection of chronic dental/jawbone infections and the increased risk of breast cancer. I have provided link below to read the full article to learn more about the connection of these 2 conditions. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8044077/#
Essentially, what has been discovered is that chronic infection and inflammation increases the risk of cancer not only for breast, but also for many other cancers as well. This is another aspect underlining the fact that systemic health and dental health are linked!
Many of the infections that contribute to ongoing immune activity and inflammation are silent. If you have a history of wisdom tooth extractions or root canals, you may want to consider having these evaluated to see if there is ongoing infection. These infections are often without symptoms and do not present with pain. That is a challenge for most dental professionals. Standard x-ray imaging from the dentist often misses many of these occult infections. I recommend to get a cone beam scan (CBCT) to obtain a 3-dimensional view of the tooth/teeth to determine if there is any underlying silent infection within the bone or the tooth that was extracted or treated with a root canal. Dr. Michael Gossweiler, Dr. Bruce Lockhart and Dr. Kathryn Stuart all perform the CBCT test. Dr. Litty or myself could order specific testing for oral inflammation, if positive then we may consider evaluating for a dental infection as the cause for inflammation to help with prevention of cancer and other diseases.
We all need to be vigilant of the possible underlying causes of cancer in order to prevent its onset. The current dictum that the best treatment is early detection but I propose the best prevention is the identification of factors which can predispose one to the disease. This includes a thorough dental evaluation by an appropriately trained professional, evaluation of toxic exposures in the environment such as mold, chemicals and heavy metals and consideration for immune testing to determine if there is a high risk within the family genetics that predispose one to cancer.

-Dr. Logan
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