Can Your Teeth Make You Sick? The Dental Connection to Chronic Illness

Yes, your teeth can affect your whole body. Hidden dental infections from root canals, poorly healed extraction sites (called cavitations), and even braces and retainers can keep your immune system and nervous system under constant stress. For many people with CIRS or chronic illness, the mouth is the missing piece. And once the infection is gone, damaged nerves still need rehab to heal.

I'm exercising again without crashing. That hasn't happened in years. I have goosebumps just writing it. Here are the last pieces that got me there.

Key takeaways

• Dr. Chase Faldmo calls your teeth the "circuit breakers" of your body. Each tooth is linked to different organs.
• Root canals and cavitations (including old wisdom tooth sites) can harbor hidden infection.
• Braces and retainers can restrict the movement of your skull bones, which may affect drainage from the brain.
• Clearing infection isn't the last step. Damaged nerves need rehabilitation, and that takes 9 to 12 months.
• If you've remediated your home and you're still sick, look at your mouth.

Meet Dr. Chase Faldmo

Dr. Chase Faldmo is a chiropractor and the founder of Healing Playbook. At 15, he was a healthy athlete. Then he got braces, and his energy dropped. More health problems followed, and he lost 50 pounds. His heart rate fell to 36 beats a minute. Top doctors told him there was nothing more they could do.

He healed. Then he spent his career figuring out why he got sick, and he's since treated thousands of patients.

My friend Lindsay (The Lindsay Report) told me I needed to see him. I canceled twice. But a nagging voice kept saying, he has something you're missing. He did.

🎧 Listen to the full episode: Could Your Teeth Be Affecting Your Health?

How can dental infections affect your health?

Dr. Faldmo explains healing in terms of power. Your body runs on electrical energy: voltage (how much charge) and current (how well it flows). To repair and regenerate, your body needs enough power.

He points to research by Dr. Robert Becker (The Body Electric) showing electrical changes as salamanders regrow limbs.

The number one cause of low power he sees? Dental infections, braces, retainers, and cavitations.

He compares your teeth to circuit breakers. Each tooth connects to certain organs. For example, he links the top molars and bottom premolars to the spleen, stomach, and pancreas. When one is infected, it's like flipping a breaker, and that whole "power line" goes dim.

What is a dental cavitation?

A cavitation is a pocket of dead, often infected bone left behind after a tooth is pulled. When a tooth is removed, the bone and ligament should be cleaned out too. When they aren't, that area loses its blood supply, the tissue dies, and infection can set in.

This often happens with wisdom teeth. Millions of people may be walking around with old wisdom tooth sites they have no idea are infected.

Root canals can cause similar problems. The tooth's nerves and blood vessels are removed, and the surrounding tissue can lose its blood supply.

How do you test for a hidden dental infection?

Dr. Faldmo uses a digital stethoscope that measures heart rate variability (HRV), a window into your nervous system.

Then he applies an antimicrobial essential oil blend (doTERRA OnGuard) to suspected infection sites and measures again.

When he did this on my last two cavitations, my readings changed dramatically. And I felt it. My nerves usually feel sticky and tense. Suddenly it was like a machine had just been oiled. Lighter. Looser.

He told me: You'll keep managing symptoms until that last cavitation is cleared.

I had them removed two weeks later.

Your mouth is one clue. What's the rest of your body saying? 👉 Take the free Root Causes Quiz to see where your body broke down first.

Can braces cause health problems?

According to Dr. Faldmo, braces and retainers can affect your health in a few ways:

• Electrical charge: He has measured some braces and retainers at up to 400 millivolts.
• Craniosacral pump: Your skull bones aren't fully fused. They move slightly and help pump inflammation and waste out of the brain and spinal cord. The roof of your mouth is part of that system. Wiring it in place may slow that pump.
• Stagnation: Like water in a puddle, fluid that can't move tends to get inflamed.

Here's what blew my mind. My son is on his third round of braces, and his brain maps at Provo Health always show more inflammation when he's wearing them. When I told our neurofeedback techs, they said they'd suspected a link for years.

What are the alternatives to braces?

Dr. Faldmo mentioned:

• ALF appliances, which bend in the middle so the skull can still move (they need a very skilled provider)
• Habit correctors, night mouth guards that train the tongue to rest on the roof of the mouth
• Tongue posture: teaching kids to keep their tongue up, which supports palate growth and straighter teeth

He also points to Weston A. Price's research showing our ancestors had wider jaws, partly from diet. Phosphorus-rich foods like root vegetables help.

Are you chasing mold when it's really your mouth?

This was my biggest aha.

I'd moved out of a moldy house. I'd had my new home inspected and professionally cleaned. And I was still told to go clean my house more.

Everything in my gut said no. When Dr. Faldmo told me to clear the infection in my mouth, my gut said heck yes.

If you've remediated, you're exhausted from cleaning, and you're still sick, please consider your mouth. Yes, you need to get out of a moldy environment. But you don't need a perfect one if a bigger source of infection is sitting in your jaw.

Can nerve damage from CIRS or Epstein-Barr be reversed?

Dr. Faldmo says yes, but it takes time and consistent rehab.

My left side has always been weaker, with tremors, twitching, and less vision and taste. Dr. Faldmo explained that viruses like Epstein-Barr attack where the body is weakest. For me, that was the left side, where my old root canal and cavitations were. The infection damaged the protective coating on my nerves.

Here's the termite analogy I love: an exterminator can kill all the termites, but the holes are still in the tree. Getting rid of infection doesn't automatically repair the damage.

Dr. Faldmo tested my cranial nerves for hours: taste, smell, swallowing, drainage. I couldn't identify a strong flavor on my left side that I tasted easily on my right. Liquid passed through my right nostril but stayed stuck on the left.

Then he gave me home exercises. Some are incredibly simple:

• Humming, which boosts nitric oxide
• Swallowing drills, done in a specific order to retrain nerves to work together

He's seen Parkinson's-like tremors go away once infection was cleared and nerves were retrained.

How long does nerve rehab take?

At least 9 to 12 months. Your stomach lining renews every few days. Nerves are much slower. Many people feel better sooner as drainage improves, but for nerves to remyelinate and hold, you need consistency.

You wouldn't train for a bikini competition by going to the gym twice a week. Neurological change takes daily work. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Frequently asked questions

Can a root canal make you sick?

It can for some people. The tissue around the tooth can lose its blood supply, and hidden infection can build up. Many functional practitioners look for this in chronic illness.

What are signs of a cavitation?

Cavitations often have no obvious symptoms in the mouth. A biological dentist can check for them with a 3D (CBCT) scan, especially at old wisdom tooth or extraction sites.

Do braces affect the nervous system?

Dr. Faldmo believes braces and retainers can restrict the craniosacral system and affect nerve function. He suggests talking with an airway-focused provider about alternatives.

How long does it take for nerves to heal?

Nerves typically take 9 to 12 months or more to remyelinate. Consistent daily exercises matter more than intensity.

Where do you start?

Your mouth, your nerves, your immune system: it's all connected. And there's an order to healing them.

That's exactly what the Order of Healing™ maps out: 8 steps, from mindset and mitochondria all the way up to the brain. Because you're not broken. You're out of order.

👉 Download the free Order of Healing™ Guide and find your next step.

🎧 Listen to the full episode on the Gutsy Health Podcast.

Find Dr. Chase Faldmo at healingplaybook.com and on Instagram at @HealingPlaybook.

This post is for education only and isn't medical or dental advice. Talk with a qualified provider before making changes to your care.