Dr. Al Danenberg

Nutritional Periodontist

In August of 2019, Dr. Al Danenberg found himself in hospice care, waiting to die. He had been diagnosed with incurable multiple myeloma the year before, and retired from his 40+ years long career as a periodontist. Choosing to reject chemotherapy, and using his knowledge of the medical field, he created his 11 Unconventional Cancer Protocols, designed to support the body’s natural healing process.

By May 8, 2020, his PET Scan showed no active cancer cells, and he was feeling better than he had in years. But cancer doesn’t define his story.  Dr. Al has devoted his life to helping others regain control of their health. Now, he’s using what he’s learned to help you learn to thrive – metabolically, physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. 

Author of:
CRAZY-GOOD LIVING!
Better Belly Blueprint
Is Your Gut Killing You?

Author of Eat As If Your Life Depends On It, plus other books.  Dr. Danenberg.com

Gum disease (periodontal disease) is 2 infections.  Gingivitis is infection is In the gum tissue.  Is very reversible, no bone infection.

Can advance to periodontitis, which is more aggressive.  Mix of different types of bacteria, which get under the gum, causing damage to the jawbone, loosening and then loss of  teeth.

Infection in the mouth generally starts in the gut.  Due to emotional distress, diet, damage to the garden of bacteria.  Immune system becomes dysfunctional, infection spreads through circulatory system.  Bacteria in the mouth become overgrown with pathogenic types which cause tooth decay.  It’s like a splinter in your finger that can become a systemic infection.

Local irritants in mouth and gut issues lead to dental decay.

The mouth and body professions don’t talk on the same plane.  Their interplay is not taught in medical or dental school.  Root canals and mercury fillings still being taught.

Sugar is main factor in causing tooth decay.   But damage from it requires a pathological situation in the garden of bacteria.  Sugar feeds the bacteria, causes acid release, leads to tooth decay.

Immune system controls balance of bacteria.  If overgrown, bacteria cause problems, but if not overgrown, they serve a purpose as a balance.

Don’t want to kill off the oral microbiome.  Bacteria in dental plaque is thought of needing to be destroyed.  Rather, it has a purpose.  Are several hundred microbes that produce peroxide, which kill potentially pathogenic bacteria from getting under gum.  Has buffers that control acidity to keep it more than pH of 5.5.  Is a gatekeeper allowing minerals to penetrate the biofilm of dental plaque to get to tooth root and remineralize.

Worse thing you can do is use antimicrobial toothpaste and mouthwashes.  They destroy a healthy biofilm.

Looking at skulls of archeological remains, find calcified dental plaque, but no dental decay.  Calcified dental plaque is protective if its not overgrown with pathological bacteria.

Is teeth cleaning needed?  It’s not medically necessary to remove excess tartar.

Doesn’t recommend hydrogen peroxide or silver for prophylactic use.

Dr. Danenberg was diagnosed in 2018 with multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer.  Believe it started by exposure to mercury and low dose ionizing radiation in his dental practice.

Investigated lifestyle changes.  Started with more strict animal based diet, mostly carnivore by Jan 2020.  Treated at Intl Center for Medical Nutritional Intervention in Budapest, Hungary.  No chemo.

Eats a Paleoketogenic diet and is in ketosis most of the time. 

Liver produces ketones when there is not enough carb available.  Ketosis is when level of ketones improves healing and antioxidant potential.  What you’re not eating is more important than what you’re eating.

Retired dentist calls in.  Says Dr. Huggins found that sugar reverses flow in the tooth tubules from an outward direction to inward from the mouth.

Listener asks:  Can a tooth ever be healed or fixed if it’s cracked?  No, the tooth will not self-heal.  Usually a crown or extraction is required.

Zirconia in implants don’t have the immune response that titanium does.

Titanium implants like in the femur can create Inflammatory response around the screw that causes dissolving of the bone.

Can’t rebuild enamel but can remineralize it.  Use baking soda paste made with salt water applied with a toothbrush. 

Will carnivore diet heal leaky gut? Absolutely.  But it must be one that eliminates plants and includes organs.

Is pate a good source of Vitamin A?  Beef is good.  Pork and chicken pate are fed products of soy or corn, which have high linoleic acid that oxidize when eaten in excess, which damages fat cells and mitochondria.

Caller with TMJ.  Identify the cause of the TMJ.  Could be stress, a grinding habit, mouth positioning of the teeth, poor orthodontia earlier in life, constricted tongue causing sleep apnea.  If have a malformed jaw, malformed teeth, need dental arches widened.  Nightguard doesn’t solve initial problem.

Why is jaw smaller?  Eating soft refined foods, not stimulating bones to grow.   Not being breast fed, so jaw didn’t expand appropriately.

Could braces cause receding gums?  Teeth could have been moved too quickly, and film on teeth never regrew.  Or poor dental habits.

Gingival problems will resolve with a healthy diet and treating gut.  But not periodontitis.  Needs more extensive treatment.

Don’t want to get rid of healthy dental plaque.  Do want to clean excess surface material off with brushing.