As was stated before, this theory contends that infected teeth, tonsils, tonsil tags, and similar other areas that are infected, could be responsible for setting up a whole new infection in another tissue or organ of the body because the bacteria involved are transported to the new area via the bloodstream.
The views, both pro and con, were fiercely debated and resulted in professional wars – that is, wars between physcians and their meddical societies; between dentists and dental societies; between physicians and dentists; and between dentists and physicians. The arguments of believers and on-believers were hot and heavy. These arguments against the acceptance of the theory created a milieu which was not readily receptive to Dr. Price’s research results.
Suppression of the Dr. Weston Price accomplishments was unfortunate for the development of medicine and detrimental to the health of our people.
Mainly responsible was a dispute which took place among health professionals as to the validity of the focal infection theory.
Simply stated, the focal infection theory takes position that infected teeth, tonsils, tonsil tags, sinuses and such areas of infection contain bacteria which can travel to another gland, organ or tissue and set up a new infection site. Dr. Weston Price was not the only doctor carrying out research on this subject. Among the 60 members of the American Dental Association’s Research Institute governing body were such famous doctors as Charles Mayo, organizer of the Mayo Clinic; Milton Rosenau, professor of preventive medicine at Johns Hopkins; William Welch, professor of pathology;Frank Billings who gave focal infection its name; Truman Brophy; Frank Billings who gave focal infection its name;Truman Brophy,dental school dean; Frank Lillie, professor of zoology and embryology; and Victor Vaughan, medical department dean and American Medical Association president.
As in so many disputes about medical discoveries, even though the majority of leading doctors believed in the focal infection theory, these leading scientists were overidden and silenced.
The fight against the focal infection theory was mainly carried out by doctors Percy Howe and John Buckley. Howe based his opposition on a study he conducted injecting rabbits with the normal placid streptococcus bacteria secured from the mouth,not bacteria from an infection site or a root filled tooth. In his investigation, none of the animals became sick or died. Bluckley was unable to see how infected teeth which showed excellent evidence of bone repair after root canal therapy could possibly still be infected.
Then too, because some who had root filled teeth removed did not recover, he questoned the validity of the conclusion that a percentage of patients did get well due to the removal of a tooth or teeth.
