Do you ever wonder what the effect a mouthful of metal has had on your general health? It is a fairly widely held belief that many problems can be caused by the mercury fillings most dentists love so much. If you are susceptible to eczema, asthma and allergies can fillings be causing people problems? I’ve always had a nut allergy as far as I’m aware, but could this increase in sensitivity have a direct link to having my first fillings? I’m pretty sure I get flare ups directly after visits to the dentists which involve metal fillings.
Last year I wrote blog post about my amalgam filling nightmare. You can read this here: https://whatallergy.com/2009-11/amalgam
A recent email I received from Natural News made me want to delve a little deeper. I read “FDA reconsidering safety of mercury fillings, but panel may be rigged from the start” with interest. You can read the whole article here: http://www.naturalnews.com/030741_mercury_fillings_FDA.html
It’s shocking to read that “amalgam fillings are intentionally and misleadingly named “silver fillings” so that people don’t realize they’re made of mercury, and when installed in teeth, they release mercury vapour every time a person chews on them…”
Is mercury danger in amalgam fillings a myth?
Is this all just hype? Like a similar post I did recently about Arsenic in rice milk, are we just all worrying about nothing? Millions and millions of people have amalgam fillings with no side effects, don’t they? Is it just an unlucky few who suffer side effects? Or perhaps we are all barking up completely the wrong tree and these fillings are not harmful at all? I have heard of people whose allergies have disappeared completely after all their amalgam fillings had been removed. If you have had this treatment and seen an improvement in your health please let us know. I’d love to hear your story.
Getting amalgam fillings removed
There are a number of brilliant and useful articles on the Foodsmatter website about this subject.
If you’re thinking of having your amalgam fillings removed, make sure you take the necessary precautions to minimise your exposure to mercury whilst the procedure is taking place. Read “Protocols for the safe removal of amalgam fillings – from the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology” http://www.foodsmatter.com/environment_chemical_sensitivity/heavy_metals/articles/removal_amalgam_fillings.html.
The effects of mercury fillings
You may also be interested to read “Dental mercury – the curse of amalgam fillings.” which is packed full of useful information about the effects of amalgam fillings and links to finding dentists in the UK who will safely remove them. Visit www.foodsmatter.com to read this article.
What’s in a mercury amalgam filling?
So what is really in amalgam fillings? How much mercury is in an amalgam filling? Mercury is treated as a highly toxic substance so surely putting any at all in your mouth is insane? Every dentist I’ve asked has sworn they are completely safe so why do they all deny it could be dangerous?
Healthcentre.org says, “The material used to make amalgam fillings is a mixture of metals, usually 35% silver, 15% tin or a mixture of tin and copper, small traces of zinc and 50% mercury .”
50 PERCENT MERCURY! That’s a lot of mercury!
What are composite white fillings made from?
What are the ingredients in the new white composite fillings? Are these really a safer option? Has any testing been done to understand the long-term effects they may have?
Is there a totally safe filling material?
And finally, can we really be sure of the content of silver, platinum and gold fillings? Are they mixed with other metals and substances? How would we know this?
In an industry which is split between the National Health Service, which struggles to remain profitable and is hard to break into as a new patient, and private surgeries which can become exorbitantly expensive, what is the best course of action? Do I save up for expensive platinum or gold fillings which would be allergy free? Can I rely on them being pure?
It is a minefield and one that I keep coming back to. I’m seriously thinking of having my few remaining amalgam fillings removed at a safe mercury free dentists and if I do I will certainly share my experience on here.
The annoying things with this issue is that there are no really better alternatives. Composite fillings for example last half the time and contain Bisphenol A… (there is always something wrong!). Gold lokks like a good option. I wonder if it looks better than silver colour. In any case, I don’t think we should panic: as you said, millions of people are fine with their mouths full of mercury… One should also be cautious with perssonal anecdotes. You can’t just feel better as soon as the fillings are gone: because of the 3-month half time of mercury in the body, it takes a year for its level in tissues to go down significantly. And I haven’t seen anywhere mercury poisoning can cause allergies. But go ahead with your filling replacement, I’d be curious to see the result.
Hi Fred. Yes those white fillings could be just as bad. I must find out about Bisphenol A. I don’t like the sound of it. I do wake with a really metalic taste in my mouth every day and notice I get far worse allergy and skin problems, as well has headaches and generally feeling bad after visits to the dentist. Could be well worth a try I think to get fillings replaced. Not many left now that are amalgam and they are all pretty old anyway. There are herbal supplements like Chinese Chorella that speed the removal of mercury from the body. And back to the gold and silver or porcelain alteratives. They do cost more, but last a long time, however I’ve heard that some dentists get the raw materials from China etc. and when samples were tested it wasn’t good news what else had been mixed with the metals. I heard this from a dentist so it seems you can’t really be sure what is going into your mouth. What is wrong with this world? Simple things just seem crazy. Mercury should NOT go in a mouth! I also grind my teeth at night so if there is any truth in this mercury vapour business I’m probably aggravating things… I did hear from someone who has had mercury filings removed and noticed a huge difference in her health after a few months.
Further to Fred’s comment regarding Bisphenol A I received an interesting blog from Michelle at Foods Matter just this minute about this very subject. Her article, entitled: Dollars really are ‘dirty’ money… doesn’t discuss fillings but instead the other places where Bisphenol A is being used such as receipt paper, babies’ feeding bottle teets etc. Read more here: http://www.foodsmatter.com/blog/?p=745
And also information from the BUPA website raising concerns about Bisphenol A in composite fillings.
http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/d/teeth-restoring
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