Root Cause (film)

Last updated

Root Cause
Directed byFrazer Bailey
Produced byJustin Lyons
StarringBen Purser
CinematographySimon Christidis
Music byMark McDuff
Production
company
Play Pictures
Release date
  • January 1, 2019 (2019-01-01)
Running time
73 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Root Cause is a documentary film produced by Frazer Bailey. The film makes claims regarding symptoms and illness that purportedly can originate from root canal treatment. The film has been denounced by dentists for making false and misleading claims.

Contents

Premise

The film follows the filmmaker's 10-year journey to solve his chronic fatigue and anxiety, starting with mainstream medicine but then winding through a range of alternative medicine practices, and finally arriving at the conclusion that his old root canals were the source of his ailments. [1]

In the film, root canal therapies are claimed to be associated with cancer, and it is suggested that pulling an infected tooth is a better approach. The film's trailer implies that root canals or infected teeth can lead to migraines, diabetes, lupus, fibromyalgia and heart disease. [2] The film makes specific false claims of "97% of patients with breast cancer had a root canal on the same side as the cancer," and "the #1 cause of heart attack is root canal treated teeth," and that root canals result in inflammation leading to systemic disease. [3]

Reception

The film was released in 2019 on Netflix, Amazon, Vimeo, iTunes, Google Play and YouTube. The American Dental Association, American Association of Endodontists and the American Association of Dental Research sent a private letter to media companies hosting the film and warned them that "continuing to host the film could harm the viewing public by spreading long-disproven claims." [2] The film was subsequently removed from Netflix less than a month after its release, and later from Amazon. [4] [5] [6]

Dentist Tom Pagonis writes that the film "rehash[es] an old and disproven theory of focal infection disease — or that root canal treated teeth are responsible for practically every human chronic degenerative disease including the filmmaker's particular ailments." [1] Dr. Fred Barnett, chair of dentistry and program director of endodontics at Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia said, "there hasn't been one valid medical or scientific study published anywhere that can show causation between having a root canal and developing cancer." [4] The American Association of Endodontists wrote, "The film's premise is based on junk science and faulty testing conducted more than 100 years ago, that was first debunked in the 1950s". [4] The president of the American Dental Association said the film "contains significant misinformation that is not supported by scientific evidence, which can cause unwarranted fear among viewers". [6]

PolitiFact evaluated the film's claim that a root canal can shut down 63% of your immune system with, "We rate this claim about root canals leading to serious illnesses False." [7]

The people in this movie are spreading misinformation and confusion about root canal treatment that is misleading and harmful to the consumer public. Their premise is based on junk science and faulty testing conducted more than 100 years ago that was debunked in the 1950s, continuously since then and is even more discredited today by physicians, dentists and academics. Mainstream medical and dental communities overwhelmingly agree that root canal treatment is safe, effective and eliminates pain.

UCLA School of Dentistry, Response to Netflix Documentary: Root Cause [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dentistry</span> Branch of medicine

Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the mouth, most commonly focused on dentition as well as the oral mucosa. Dentistry may also encompass other aspects of the craniofacial complex including the temporomandibular joint. The practitioner is called a dentist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dentist</span> Health care occupations caring for the mouth and teeth

A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in providing oral health services. The dental team includes dental assistants, dental hygienists, dental technicians, and sometimes dental therapists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tooth decay</span> Deformation of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria

Tooth decay, also known as cavities or caries, is the breakdown of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria. The cavities may be a number of different colors from yellow to black. Symptoms may include pain and difficulty with eating. Complications may include inflammation of the tissue around the tooth, tooth loss and infection or abscess formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dental surgery</span>

Dental surgery is any of a number of medical procedures that involve artificially modifying dentition; in other words, surgery of the teeth, gums and jaw bones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endodontics</span> Field of dentistry

Endodontics is the dental specialty concerned with the study and treatment of the dental pulp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toothache</span> Medical condition of the teeth

Toothache, also known as dental pain, is pain in the teeth or their supporting structures, caused by dental diseases or pain referred to the teeth by non-dental diseases. When severe it may impact sleep, eating, and other daily activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dental hygienist</span> Medical professional

A dental hygienist or oral hygienist is a licensed dental professional, registered with a dental association or regulatory body within their country of practice. Prior to completing clinical and written board examinations, registered dental hygienists must have either an associate's or bachelor's degree in dental hygiene from an accredited college or university. Once registered, hygienists are primary healthcare professionals who work independently of or alongside dentists and other dental professionals to provide full oral health care. They have the training and education that focus on and specialize in the prevention and treatment of many oral diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veterinary dentistry</span> Branch of veterinary medicine

Veterinary dentistry is the field of dentistry applied to the care of animals. It is the art and science of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions, diseases, and disorders of the oral cavity, the maxillofacial region, and its associated structures as it relates to animals.

Dilaceration is a developmental disturbance in shape of teeth. It refers to an angulation, or a sharp bend or curve, in the root or crown of a formed tooth. This disturbance is more likely to affect the maxillary incisors and occurs in permanent dentition. Although this may seem more of an aesthetics issue, an impacted maxillary incisor will cause issues related to occlusion, phonetics, mastication, and psychology on young patients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weston A. Price</span> Canadian dentist

Weston Andrew Valleau Price was a Canadian dentist known primarily for his theories on the relationship between nutrition, dental health, and physical health. He founded the research institute National Dental Association, which became the research section of the American Dental Association, and was the NDA's chairman from 1914 to 1928.

Focal infection theory is the historical concept that many chronic diseases, including systemic and common ones, are caused by focal infections. In present medical consensus, a focal infection is a localized infection, often asymptomatic, that causes disease elsewhere in the host, but focal infections are fairly infrequent and limited to fairly uncommon diseases. Focal infection theory, rather, so explained virtually all diseases, including arthritis, atherosclerosis, cancer, and mental illnesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Root canal treatment</span> Dental treatment

Root canal treatment is a treatment sequence for the infected pulp of a tooth which is intended to result in the elimination of infection and the protection of the decontaminated tooth from future microbial invasion. Root canals, and their associated pulp chamber, are the physical hollows within a tooth that are naturally inhabited by nerve tissue, blood vessels and other cellular entities. Together, these items constitute the dental pulp.

Dental pertains to the teeth, including dentistry. Topics related to the dentistry, the human mouth and teeth include:

Restorative dentistry is the study, diagnosis and integrated management of diseases of the teeth and their supporting structures and the rehabilitation of the dentition to functional and aesthetic requirements of the individual. Restorative dentistry encompasses the dental specialties of endodontics, periodontics and prosthodontics and its foundation is based upon how these interact in cases requiring multifaceted care. This may require the close input from other dental specialties such as orthodontics, paediatric dentistry and special care dentistry, as well as surgical specialties such as oral and maxillofacial surgery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hal Huggins</span> American dental campaigner

Hal Alan Huggins was an American alternative dentistry advocate and campaigner against the use of dental amalgam fillings and other dental therapies that he believed to be unsafe. Huggins began to promote his ideas in the 1970s and played a major role in generating controversy over the use of amalgam. Huggins's license to practice dentistry was revoked in 1996 after a panel found him guilty of gross negligence. Since then, he continued to publish on the topic of mercury and human health and believed that dental amalgam and other dental practices were responsible for a range of serious diseases. Many of Huggins' health claims have been criticized as pseudoscientific and quackery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willoughby D. Miller</span>

Willoughby Dayton Miller (1853–1907) was an American dentist and the first oral microbiologist.

In the United States and Canada, there are twelve recognized dental specialties in which some dentists choose to train and practice, in addition to or instead of general dentistry. In the United Kingdom and Australia, there are thirteen.

Holistic dentistry, also called biological dentistry, biologic dentistry, alternative dentistry, unconventional dentistry, or biocompatible dentistry, is the equivalent of complementary and alternative medicine for dentistry. Although the holistic dental community is diverse in its practices and approaches, common threads include strong opposition to the use of amalgam in dental fillings, nonsurgical approaches to gum disease, and the belief that root canal treatments may endanger systemic health of the patient through the spread of trapped dental bacteria to the body. Many dentists who use these terms also regard water fluoridation unfavorably.

Dentistry provided by the National Health Service in the United Kingdom is supposed to ensure that dental treatment is available to the whole population. Most dentistry is provided by private practitioners, most of whom also provide, on a commercial basis, services which the NHS does not provide, largely cosmetic. Most adult patients have to pay some NHS charges, although these are often significantly cheaper than the cost of private dentistry. The majority of people choose NHS dental care rather than private care: as of 2005, the national average proportion of people opting for private care was 23%. NHS dentistry is not always available and is not managed in the way that other NHS services are managed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tooth mobility</span> Medical condition

Tooth mobility is the horizontal or vertical displacement of a tooth beyond its normal physiological boundaries around the gingival area, i.e. the medical term for a loose tooth.

References

  1. 1 2 Pagonis, Tom (26 July 2023). ""Root Cause" or How I Got My Mojo Back!". RootRadar. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  2. 1 2 Almendrala, Anna (4 February 2019). "A new film claims root canals cause cancer. Don't believe it, dentists say". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  3. Hatfield, Spring (16 January 2019). ""Root Cause" Netflix Documentary: Let's Review the Science". Today's RDH. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Kopp, John (1 March 2019). "Documentary linking root canals to cancer drilled by dentists, yanked by Netflix". PhillyVoice. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  5. Kuo, Kevin (7 March 2019). "Amazon & Netflix remove 'Root Cause', but danger continues". RootRadar. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 Almendrala, Anna (28 February 2019). "Netflix pulls controversial documentary that claims root canals cause cancer". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  7. Putterman, Samantha (13 November 2019). ""Did you know? Dentists are the only physicians that believe you can get away with leaving dead tissue in the body. One root canal tooth can shut down 63% of your immune system." FALSE". PolitiFact . Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  8. "Response to Netflix Documentary: Root Cause". UCLA School of Dentistry . 6 February 2019. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019.