How many people have mercury amalgam dental filings

[Cog]

I am curious to know how many of us have/had mercury amalgam dental fillings?

I have had a couple of doctors recommend that I have mine removed (nearly every tooth had a filling)- which I did and I feel much better for it.

I have heard many suggestions about links between mercury toxicity and crohn's. My daughter will never have an amalgam filling for sure.

 

[D Bergy]

I have several and wonder about it also. I doubt that they will use these fillings 20 years from now.

The origins of the term "Quack" is quite interesting also.

Mercury was first used in dental amalgams about 1800 in France, and the amalgam was introduced to America in 1833 by the English. The American Society of Dental Surgeons of New York (which later became the American Dental Association) found 11 of its own members guilty of malpractice for use of mercury amalgam and suspended their licenses in 1848.

The word “quack,” defined as an ignorant pretender of medical skill, is based on the German quicksilver, “quecksalber”. Doctors and dentists, concerned about patients being poisoned, shortened it to quack and used it as a term for colleagues who used mercury as a medicine or in dentistry.


Dan Bergman

 

[DanSJVDavis]

That would be the silver fillings, correct? Nope, never had a one till several years ago and I've had Crohn's for over 20 years now.

 

[Kev]

Interesting.. My dental fillings predates my IBD by approx. 2 - 3 years. As to their being mercury amalgam or not, I wouldn't know. Might be worth checking out. How does one test for mercury levels? Is it relatively easy, or as complicated as testing for 'lead'? (I worked for a company that manufactured computers, we were exposed to significant levels of lead.. the bloodwork test for lead took several wks to process)

 

[old hat]

The origin of the word quack has nothing to do with amalgam fillings.
quack (n.)
"medical charlatan," 1638, short for quacksalver (1579), from Du. kwaksalver, lit. "hawker of salve," from M.Du. quacken "to brag, boast," lit. "to croak" (see quack (v.)) + zalf "salve." Cf. Ger. Quacksalber, Dan. kvaksalver, Swed. kvacksalvare.


Are amalgam fillings dangerous? Should you spend money to have them removed and replace? No and no.
http://www.dentalwatch.org/hg/amalgampp.html

 

[soupdragon69]

Well said Old Hat

 

[D Bergy]

I stand corrected. I should not have relied on one source for the definition.

Mercury was used in some remedies in my grandmothers time. She remembers the doctor having her ingest a ball of Mercury such as you would get from an old Mercury thermometer. If it came all the way through, which she said it always did and rather quickly, then you did not have an intestinal blockage. I do not know what would have happened if it would have stayed in the person.

Dan Bergman

 

[D Bergy]

I do not think the question of whether Mercury is safe in your mouth as a filling is not quite as simple as yes or no. I can think of a few variables right off the top of my head.

How many do you have? Certainly the amount of Mercury in your mouth has an impact of the level of exposure for any individual.

Are you more sensitive to it than most people? There is no way of knowing any individual responses to Mercury. The only thing known for sure is that it has no obvious effect on most people.

What is your exposure to Mercury without the fillings. I happen to live near two power plants that burn coal which give off Mercury as a byproduct. Our lakes already have warnings on eating too many fish. Before I get any fillings I already have a certain amount present which would vary by individual.

The effects of Mercury are cumulative. Different people will excrete Mercury at different rates and it is never all excreted. Once your intake exceeds the amount excreted it is simply building up in your body.

I grind my teeth at night some times. This would cause my exposure to be greater than someone else.

Having said that, I think it is highly unlikely that Mercury causes Crohn's disease. It could be a factor among many that may make the disease worse, or it may have nothing at all to do with it. To my knowledge, Mercury has no beneficial effect on humans.

I will not get any more of these Mercury fillings since I have quite a few already. But neither am I going to have them taken out without a dental related reason.

Dan Bergman

 

[Kev]

There you go.. Saved me a trip to the dentist. In light of the info in that article that 'Old Hat' linked in his post, I'm wondering what possessed Cog's doctors to suggest the removal of the amalgam? Hope these doctors didn't jump on the anti-amalgam bandwagon without checking their sources. Anyone finding a reputable source of info in favour of the 'anti-amalgam' stance is more than welcome to post it here.

 

[Cog]

You can test for mercury through hair samples - yes mine were high - it takes a week or two for the results.
You can also do a mercury vapor test - you chew on a piece of gum for five minutes and then take a reading. The reading I got was 0.18 mercury vapor. I gather a factory would be closed down with a reading of 0.04.

Please read

http://www.mercola.com/2001/jun/9/amalgam_safety.htm
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I would recommend anyone with those fillings to have them changed out for white fillings and then using chlorella to remove the mercury in your system after that.

I do not agree with old hat - I respect his views - but I also consider what would be the consequences of the dental profession suddenly saying that silver/ amalgam fillings are actually bad for your health. Litigation in the USA would be really interesting.

 

[old hat]

The breath test for mercury is bogus and so is the hair testing.

mercola.com has a great deal of misinformation on it. Take anything you read there with a large grain of salt or several of them.

 

[old hat]

There you go.. Saved me a trip to the dentist. In light of the info in that article that 'Old Hat' linked in his post, I'm wondering what possessed Cog's doctors to suggest the removal of the amalgam? Hope these doctors didn't jump on the anti-amalgam bandwagon without checking their sources. Anyone finding a reputable source of info in favour of the 'anti-amalgam' stance is more than welcome to post it here.

Sometimes it is simply a scam. Removing amalgam fillings and replacing them can be very lucrative especially if the person has a large number.

 

[old hat]

http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/full/132/3/348
The amalgam controversy

An evidence-based analysis



JOHN E. DODES, D.D.S.
Background. There are a number of patients and health care professionals who believe dental amalgam restorations are a factor in a host of diseases and conditions. They have been influenced by anecdotal case reports in the medical and dental literature, research published in the refereed literature and media stories concerning the alleged dangers of amalgam restorations.

Methods. The author uses an evidence-based approach in analyzing the data both supporting and condemning the continued use of amalgam restorations. He reviewed the articles from both peer-reviewed and non–peer-reviewed sources and evaluated their relevance, research design and statistical analysis, as well as whether the conclusions follow from the data.

Conclusions. There are numerous logical and methodological errors in the anti-amalgam literature. The author concludes that the evidence supporting the safety of amalgam restorations is compelling.

Clinical Implications. Amalgam restorations remain safe and effective. Dentists should educate patients and other health care professionals who may be mistakenly concerned about amalgam safety.

 

[old hat]

Is 'amalgam toxicity' a somatic illness? Acording to the evidence, quite possibly.
http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/abstract/59/1/32
Physical and mental problems attributed to dental amalgam fillings: a descriptive study of 99 self-referred patients compared with 272 controls
UF Malt, P Nerdrum, B Oppedal, R Gundersen, M Holte and J Lone
Department of Psychosomatic and Behavioural Medicine, National Hospital, Oslo, Norway.

OBJECTIVE: The physical and mental symptomatology of 99 self-referred patients complaining of multiple somatic and mental symptoms attributed to dental amalgam fillings were compared with patients with known chronic medical disorders seen in alternative (N = 93) and ordinary (N = 99) medical family practices and patients with dental amalgam fillings (N = 80) seen in an ordinary dental practice. METHOD: The assessments included written self-reports, a 131-item somatic symptom checklist; Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the General Health Questionnaire, and Toronto Alexithymia Scale. RESULTS: The dental amalgam sample reported significantly more physical symptoms from all body regions. Self-reports suggested that 62% suffered from a chronic anxiety disorder (generalized anxiety disorder or panic). Forty-seven percent suffered from a major depression compared with 14% in the two clinical-comparison samples and none in the dental control sample. Symptoms suggesting somatization disorder were found in 29% of the dental amalgam sample compared with only one subject in the 272 comparison subjects. One third of the dental amalgam patients reported symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome compared with none in the dental control sample and only 2 and 6%, respectively, in the two clinical comparison samples. The dental amalgam group reported higher mean neuroticism and lower lie scores than the comparison groups. CONCLUSION: Self-referred patients with health complaints attributed to dental amalgam are a heterogeneous group of patients who suffer multiple symptoms and frequently have mental disorders. There is a striking similarity with the multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome.

 

[old hat]

Is neuronal toxicity of amalgam in cell cultures caused by mercury? Is it relevant to health? No
http://jdr.iadrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/82/3/243
Neurotoxicity of Dental Amalgam is Mediated by Zinc
D Lobner1,*, and M Asrari2
1 Dept. of Biomedical Sciences and
2 Dept. of Endodontics, Marquette University, 561 N. 15th Street, Rm. 426, Milwaukee, WI 53201;

*corresponding author, [email protected]

The use of dental amalgam is controversial largely because it contains mercury. We tested whether amalgam caused toxicity in neuronal cultures and whether that toxicity was caused by mercury. In this study, we used cortical cell cultures to show for the first time that amalgam causes nerve cell toxicity in culture. However, the toxicity was not blocked by the mercury chelator, 2,3-dimercaptopropane-1-sulphonate (DMPS), but was blocked by the metal chelator, calcium disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate (CaEDTA). DMPS was an effective mercury chelator in this system, since it blocked mercury toxicity. Of the components that comprise amalgam (mercury, zinc, tin, copper, and silver), only zinc neurotoxicity was blocked by CaEDTA. These results indicate that amalgam is toxic to nerve cells in culture by releasing zinc. While zinc is known to be neurotoxic, ingestion of zinc is not a major concern because zinc levels in the body are tightly regulated.