Mercury Safe Dentist with a Holistic Dentistry Approach

Amalgam(silver) fillings contain 50% mercury, 35% Silver and 15% Tin, Copper and Zinc. The percentage of Mercury in the dental fillings is huge. One silver dental filling weights on average 1000 mg. That means it contains about 500mg of mercury. If a patient has 10 silver fillings, that patient carries in his mouth approx. 5000mg of mercury.

Why is Mercury from Amalgam Fillings Dangerous?
Mercury is a liquid metal and the most poisonous substance on earth. That means it can wash out from the amalgam while in the mouth, when it is placed or removed. When the amalgam is placed or removed, a lot of mercury is released as vapors. Once released, the vapors go into the patient’s and the dentist’s airways if special precautions are not taken. From the airways, the vapors go into the blood stream and from there potentially into any cell in the body, especially neurons(nervous system cells). The body tries to eliminate the mercury afterwards, but the natural rate of elimination is very slow. Some studies show that once mercury entered the nervous system is eliminated after 7 years if the person is not exposed to mercury at all during that period. But for someone not to be exposed to mercury at all is almost impossible. With this civilized world products, we are exposed to mercury daily like the following:

etc…, but the highest amount of mercury is coming from the dental fillings. Up to 10 years ago the average person was carring around in their teeth around 5000mg of mercury. Whenever they chewed, drank sometthing cold or hot, brush their teeth, floss, had a professional cleaning, the mercury was released into their system. In other words they were chronically exposed to a huge amount of mercury.

Chronic exposure to mercury gives people the following symptoms:

NEUROLOGICAL: slurred speech, memory loss, learning disorders, lack of concentration, fine tremor, dizziness, numbness.

HEAD AREA: dizziness, ringing in ears, faintness, frequent headaches

EMOTIONS: mood swings, fits of anger, fear and nervousness, anxiety, depression, agresivness, confusion, lethargy, shyness, manic depression, hallucinations

ORAL/THROAT: chronic coughing, gingivitis/bleeding gums, bone loss, metallic taste, bad breath, ulcers of the oral cavity, burning sensation, sore throat

NASAL: inflamation of the nose, sinusitis, excessive mucus formation, stuffy nose

LUNGS: asthma, shortness of breath chest congestion, shallow respiration

HEART: rapid heart rate, irregular heart beat, pain in chest, anemia

ENERGY LEVELS: chronic tiredness, apathy, restlessness

MUSCLE AND JOINTS: muscle aches, joint aches, stiffness, muscle weakness, muscle cramping

DIGESTIVE SYSTEM: loss of apetite, diarrhea/constipation, weight loss, nausea/vomiting, cramping colitis

OTHER SYMPTOMS: hair loss, water retention, vision problems(tunnel vision), skin problems, recurrent ilness, loss of sense of smell, excessive blushing, genital discharge, swollen glands, cold and clammy skin, allergies, hypoxia, insomnia, anorexia, kidney problems, excessive perspiration.

There are some diseases relate to Chronic Mercury Poisoning: acrodynia, Alzeimer’s disease, anterior lateral sclerosis, asthma, arthritis, emphisema, fibromyalgia, hormonal dysfunction, intestinal dysfunction, immune system disorders, autism, candidiasis,Crohn’s Disease, depression, develpmental defects, diabetes, eczema, lupus, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson disease, senile dementia, thyroid disese.

Judging just by the above mentioned lists of symptoms and diseases associated with chronic mercury exposure, we can come to the conclusion that mercury exposure from dental fillings is not a joke.

One precaution against exposure is not to have amalgam fillings done when treating cavities. There are plenty of alternatives like composite resin restorations(white fillings), composite or porcelain inlays or onlays(fillings made in the lab and then cemented in the patients’s mouth by the dentist).

Another precaution is to safely remove the old, cracked, shrunk amalgam fillings. When they are drilled out, the mercury vapors need to be aspirated by a very strong suction held by the assistant and by a big air vacuum placed above the patient’s mouth to capture the residual mercury. The tooth needs to be isolated by a rubber dam, so the amalgam shavings are not getting into the patient’s throat. Abundant cold water irrigation is needed also.

If you have old, cracked, shrunk silver fillings, please contact me at my office, Sewell Dental Arts in Washington Township, NJ to schedule a Free Consultation on Holistic Dentistry or any other concerns you may have. It will be well worth it. I promise.