Welcome to the first official post from Flossify!
For my first post I am going to discuss a new documentary I came across on Netflix, titled 'Root Cause'. Whilst I typically enjoy watching dental-related media, particularly how our profession is represented to the public, this documentary was not at all what I was expecting.
**Short disclaimer - I am fully aware of the growing research linking oral health to various health conditions, and I thrive on this when grounded in reliable scientific evidence. I am a huge advocate for putting the mouth back into the body, and there needing to be greater focus on the true impact of oral health on a person’s overall health. However, what this documentary does is far from accurate and may possibly endanger patients - physically, psychologically and financially. **
The documentary begins with a case study of a man (the documentary's director, Frazer Bailey) who suffered from anxiety and chronic fatigue. He was desperate to find a resolution. Following a decade of various medications and inexhaustible varieties of alternative treatments nothing appeared to resolve the issue. This is when the documentary's true absurdity begins to show.
The documentary then begins to make claims that breast and prostate cancers, mental health conditions, cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disorders are caused by bacteria left in the dentinal tubules following root canal treatment. The 'scientific' evidence it uses to support these claims are purely speculative, based on correlation and uses historical studies with poor research design. The 'evidence' they use to support their claims are extremely difficult to source online, and many of the physicians and dentists making these claims have been significantly discredited for their work. Mercola, an alternative medicine website, discusses how wrong conventional medicine is and manipulates scientific literature to justify their argument.
The documentary relies heavily upon the meridian system, commonly associated with Chinese medicine. They attempt to link 'energy systems' that connect certain teeth to the liver, kidneys, intestines and other organs. In one particularly scene an individual draws some blood, sticks it in a Lecher Antenna (yeah, I've never heard of this before either), and asks it questions about what causes his condition (seriously). Like something straight out of a paranormal horror movie - when asked if it was dental related, the stick gives a confirmatory sway as if by magic.
The evidence it claims is farcical and contradictory throughout. In one part it claims that residual infections are not determinable from regular radiographs, as 'lesions cannot be demarcated in 2D images'. They advocate that cone beam CTs are necessary to determine these lesions. Later in the documentary, when the director's 'dentist' claims his issues are due to his root canal treatment, it shows his lesion on a regular periapical radiograph. If you are going to make these bold statements at least make them consistently cohesive.
The documentary ends with the director thriving following removal of his tooth, participating in various physical activities on gold, sandy beaches (and appears to be some form of advert for Havana Surfboards). This ridiculous portrayal of 'look what your life could be like' continues for about 5 cringe-inducing minutes.
You may be thinking, is it worth watching? Yes, if you fancy a little bit of comedy or some stress-induced hypertension. I was very close to turning off the documentary after I realised it was aimed towards foil-hats and anti-vaxxers alike. I carried on watching, purely for the fact that if I was confronted by a patient who began to relay these 'facts', only having seen the true absurdity of the documentary and the information that it provides I would know how to respond. I would wholeheartedly recommend you advise patients to avoid watching this documentary. Patients are ever-evolving in their interactions with healthcare professionals, with more taking individual research into their own health. Documentaries such as this begin to threaten the relationship patients have with us and decrease levels of trust towards our profession. The only commendable advice that this documentary provides is highlighting the importance of good oral hygiene. That’s it.
I question whether Netflix, and other streaming services, should be held accountable for promoting and providing platforms for health-related content that is potentially dangerous to many individuals. The documentary relies upon fear-mongering and preying upon the lack of dental knowledge of the layman. Its message is to push patients towards expensive treatment pathways by holistic dentists exclusively.
The healthcare professionals involved in the documentary use their positions to spread inaccurate information and promote patients to distrust 'conventional' dental professionals - going as far to claim we care more about a single tooth than we do about an individual’s life. They are a poor representation of our profession on an international scale. Quackery has somewhat always held a position within the medical marketplace and relies upon an individual’s desperation for a simple, long-awaited remedy. They exploit a person's hope to get better for financial gain, and although it may provide some level of placebo, it poses a real threat to patients.
Olliver