By Lucy NotarantonioShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA video of a breast-cancer patient’s oral X-ray has gone viral on TikTok, earning almost 5 million views.
Dr. Michelle Jorgensen, a dentist and board-certified holistic health practitioner, shared Melissa Jacobsen’s scan online (@livingwellwithdrmichelle), showing two infected root canals that have since been removed.
Jorgensen, based in Utah, told Newsweek: "Infected teeth don’t cause cancer—but they can make it much harder for your body to fight it.
"The tragedy is that most people never connect the dots between their oral infections and their overall health. The mouth isn’t separate from the body—it’s the gateway. When we clean up what’s happening there, we often see the whole system start to heal."
Indeed, the mouth offers important clues about overall health, and that oral problems are closely linked to many long-term illnesses, according to a study conducted by researchers at Sichuan University in China.
...A Cancer Diagnosis and a Hidden Infection
Jacobsen, 43, a homemaker and mom of six, told Newsweek she was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), the most-common type of breast cancer. The American Cancer Society says that about 80 percent of all such cancers are IDC.
After a blood test revealed signs of infection in Jacobsen's bloodstream, her naturopath doctor recommended a dental evaluation. Advanced imaging later showed that both of her root-canal-treated teeth were abscessed, with "large black pockets" of infection underneath.
The teeth were extracted on October 13. After the procedure, the oral surgeon told her it was "a good thing" they removed them, as the infection was even more extensive than imaging indicated.
Jacobsen said: "My body has responded well to having the teeth removed; truly, I think it was grateful to get them out."
How Oral Infections Can Impact the Immune System
Jacobsen told Newsweek that, prior to her diagnosis, she had occasionally noticed a subtle "puffy," almost-"squishy" feeling in the gum beneath one of her root canals. But, because she experienced no pain, it was attributed it to nighttime teeth grinding and inflammation from clenching.
Jorgensen said: "Most people have no idea there’s an infection in their mouth. After a root canal, the nerve in the tooth is gone, so there’s no pain to warn you something’s wrong. The tooth may look fine, but, underneath, it can be harboring bacteria and toxins that quietly leak into the bloodstream."
Newsweek reached out to Dr. Richard Miller-White, a U.K.-based dentist with over 30 years of experience, who explained that cancer patients are more vulnerable to bacterial, viral or fungal infections.
"The likelihood of infections increases with more-advanced cancer diagnosis and with the intensity of treatment," Miller-White said. "Oral infections don’t normally shut down the immune system but can compromise it.
"A chronic dental abscess or gum infection is constantly working your immune system, and this can cause your immune system to run down, and it is possible that this makes it less able to fight other diseases."
Miller-White added that inflammation in the mouth can trigger inflammation elsewhere in the body. Gum disease, for instance, allows bacteria and inflammatory chemicals to enter the bloodstream.
Miller-White emphasized the importance of a balanced diet, good oral hygiene, proper sleep and regular dental care to help reduce infections and support immune health.
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