CARIES
EMAIL Message #131:

Date: Sat Apr 17 12:36:30 1999
Subject: Questions
To: mail@instituteofscience.com

What should one do if he has a small cavity?
Pull the tooth!
Can the tooth be treated in any other way?
...

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
FM

Dear FM:

We know the tooth is living tissue, so my understanding is that once the infection is past the enamel we've been invaded. Unless the incursion is caught early enough, so that the surface of the tooth can actually and fully heal, we are already forced to choose between two evils -- giving up the tooth, or retaining a nest of infection, however large or small, that opens to the circulation and may lead to any of a range of systemic ills in the near or distant future. Although in general the dentists and doctors of our time seem to have agreed on a disciplinary boundary somewhere around the mouth, physiologically this is nonsense and proof that we are not yet out of the dark ages.

But the dentists and doctors are victims as well, and their moves are severely constrained by the social, legal and financial status quo; so even those who might agree with my assessment on logical grounds may be constrained from full implementation. Under such a circumstance we seek a solution that is the least- biologically-incompatible, assuming that the only biologically compatible choices are full healing (which is still a dream) or extraction.

With kind regards,
SHS, INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

IoS

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