Health Alert 62
The American Dental Association (ADA) insists that mercury fillings are safe. They claim mercury amalgams are a problem only for those sensitive to mercury. Their proof is that these fillings have been used for 150 years.
But it is a well known fact that mercury is toxic. It is also a fact that “silver” amalgam fillings contain mercury. And, it’s a fact that mercury vapors are released from your fillings. This continuous low-level mercury exposure causes many medical problems.
The Foundation for Toxic-Free Dentistry has compiled statistics from six studies on a total of 1569 patients. Some cases that defied treatment have been cured by removing mercury amalgams. The patients reported on their symptoms before and after their mercury amalgams were removed. Of the 31 symptoms reported, the top ten are listed below. Most patients saw dramatic improvement after their fillings were removed.
*Connecting the Dots*
It is difficult to prove cause and effect from these kinds of “population studies”. It is the same difficulty that kept the debate over whether cigarette smoking caused lung cancer raging for so long. What can be said is this. There are studies that show a relationship between silver fillings and mercury in body tissues and the brain:
• Animal studies trace mercury from tooth amalgams to concentrations in organs. They include the spine, pituitary, adrenals, medulla, liver, kidneys, lungs and lymph glands ,
• Human and animal studies trace mercury in amalgams to the fetuses of pregnant subjects
• There has been a correlation between the number of mercury fillings and mercury levels in brain tissues
Corrosion caused by chewing or grinding can increase the mercury vapor released from your filings. So can drinking hot liquids. Old fillings are prone to corrosion by acidic foods or saliva. Many adults have fillings from childhood that fit this risk profile.
*Biting the Silver Bullet*
So, should you have your mercury fillings removed? You should probably consider replacement if:
• You have any of the above symptoms that have not responded to treatment.
• You have many old silver fillings.
• You grind your teeth.
• You drink hot coffee or tea.
I believe that you should insist on one of the non-mercury alternatives for any new fillings. There are new materials available that are safe. The best are bonded resin ceramics.
Mercury proponents insist that their bonding ability is much lower than that of traditional silver amalgams. But what you trade off in bonding ability, you make up for in biocompatibility . They are tooth colored so your smile will look better too.
*Slow and Steady*
If you do decide to have your dentist remove your silver amalgams don’t rush it. Too many removed at one time can also expose you to excess levels of mercury . This is exactly what you don’t want.
Remove your fillings judiciously – a few at a time. Space your appointments several weeks apart. Your dentist should take other precautions during your office visit. Limiting the amount of mercury vapor emitted during removal is key. Be sure to ask about these procedures before you begin.
Al Sears, MD
` Hahn, LJ; Kloiber, R; Viny, MJ;Takahashi, Y; Lorscheider, FL. Dental “silver” fillings a source of mercury exposure revealed by whole-body image scan and tissue analysis. FASEB J. 3:2641-6. Dec 1989.
Danscher G; Hersted-Bindley; and Rungby J. Traces of mercury in organs from primates with amalgam fillings. Exp Molecular path 52:291-299, 1990.
Viny, MJ;Takahashi, Y; Lorscheider, FI. Maternal-fetal distribution of mercury (203Hg) released from dental amalgam fillings. Amer J Physiol. 258:R939-45. April 1990.
Lutz, E; et al. Concentrations of mercury, cadmium and lead in brain and kidney of second trimester fetuses and infants. J Trace Elem Med Biol., 10(2):61-67, 1996.
Westrup D; Ehmann WD; Trace elements imbalances in isolated subcellular fractions of Alzheimer’s disease brains. Brain Research, 533:125-131, 1990.
Richardson, GM. An assessment of adult exposure and risks from components and degradation products of composite resin dental materials. Human Ecology Risk Assessment, 3(4):683-697, 1997.
Ziff,S; Ziff, MF DDS. Dentistry Without Mercury, p. 58, 2000.