Re your artice on root filled teeth (WDDTY vol 8 no 11): at our clinic we have treated many infections in the mouth, only to find "remote" health problems disappear. In the 1950s and 1960s extensive research by a German doctor called Voll led to a chart, linking every tooth with organs and structures in the body. Whether or not you believe in acupuncture meridians, this is very accurate and generally very helpful.

If a cavitation or root filled tooth is suspected of causing distant illness, one simple test is neural therapy. This is where local dental anaesthetic (not containing a vasoconstrictor such as adrenaline) is injected adjacent to the suspect site. Temporary relief of the patient's other symptoms (eg, headaches, shoulder stiffness or trigeminal neuralgia) may then occur from 10 minutes to several days later.

When we treat a cavitation, we not only remove the defective bone, but also place gauze, soaked firstly in antiseptic agents and then in antibiotics, directly into the cleaned area. This has resulted in a better success rate for us. Recently we also began using colloidal silver.

The effects of cavitations must not be underestimated; a whole range of body symptoms, including headaches, chronic fatigue, shoulder stiffness/mobility, trigenial neuralgia, tennis elbow, walking gait, have disappeared, once the cavitation was corrected.

Recently we have started using a computerised EAV machine, which has a dental programme built in, to test individual teeth for problems like cavitations. Robert Hempleman, Brompton Dental Clinic, London.........