Hi,

I'm thinking about getting my amalgam filling replaced with white composite ones. (I have 2 large and 1 small). I'm looking for some info from anyone who has been through this.

I'm wondering whether it is worth paying the extra money for mercury-free dentist to go through the 'proper' amalgam removal procedure with dental dams and extraction fans, etc.

Or whether I can have it done by my regular dentist and not suffer mercury entering my system to a highly toxic level.

Also, if this is the case, how bad are the mercury toxification symptoms and how long will it take to detox from it and bring my immune system back up to a good level.

Any info from people who have experienced this would be very much appreciated as I am very worried about this.

Many Thanks.

Hi,

Yes, I went through that procedure and had eight mercury-silver dental amalgams replaced with white porcelain fillings. That was a little over 10 years ago. I went to a regular dentist, but he was really good. I asked him for a dental dam and I'm pretty sure he used proper ventilation. He now advertises himself as a cosmetic dentist, although.

At the time, I didn't know a whole lot about all of this, but knowing what I know now, I would point people in the direction of getting the best care when it comes to replacing these mercury fillings. If your regular dentist has the expertise to do this, then I think that would be OK. But if you have any doubts about your regular dentist, I think seeing someone who's an expert at this type of dental restoration is important. There's too many stories out there about dentists who do not have enough experience to do a proper job.

I found that getting the best white fillings is important too. I'm happy with my porcelain fillings. They are very durable. There's now some companies that advertise that their porcelain fillings are even stronger now.

Some people may not want to spend the extra money for these top-of-the-line fillings, but considering the cost of dental care to everything else, I think it's definitely worth it. :) The lesser type of white fillings are known to need replacement earlier.

To answer your question about mercury detox, and how mercury from fillings affects our immune system, is very complicated. This has been a controversy because (as you probably know) various groups say these mercury fillings are safe and others do not.

There's thousand of studies describing all of this in detail. So I don't know if anyone could easily answer that question for you.

But I can tell you what happened to me, if that would help some. All of my fibromyalgia symptoms went away gradually. After having my mercury fillings replaced, I tried various anti-mercury components and got extremely sick. So I stopped any more experimenting after that. I was satisfied on just being patient, with continuing with my healthy diet, herbs, and exercise.

Many many years ago, I couldn't run for more than about a mile a week, without some muscle pain. My doctor told me to not run more than a hundred yards in 1978. I now run nearly 20 miles a week.

Do you have fibromyalgia symptoms or any other health problems? Do you suspect that your mercury fillings are contributing to any possible health problems? Or are you just satisifed on removing mercury from your system and having nice cosmetic teeth (regardless of whether people say the mercury fillings are safe or not)?

Hello,

I have just finished having my amalgams removed over the last couple months. I had 11 of them which I'd had since I was a kid. I believe I have mercury poisoning as a result of them. There are many symptoms and they are very serious. There are people who scoff, but I must say, that even in the last few weeks since I had the last one removed, I feel a bit better. I no longer feel like my head is in a vice and it's easier to think clearly.

Anyway, I went to a dentist who supposedly specialized in amalgam removal. He didn't have any extra "mercury extraction" devices but at least he took the dangers of mercury seriously, which alot of dentists don't do. He gave me the usual rubber dam and said that I wouldn't re-absorb any vapors. I noticed I felt extra horrible on the days I had them taken out, so I asked for a mask to put over my nose. The dentist and his assistant kind of looked at me like I was crazy and tried to tell me that they didn't have one for me, but I was insistent. So they just folded over one of the fabric masks that they have for themselves and put it over my nose. It seemed to help. I could be wrong, but I didn't feel as bad after.

I also went to a dentist who had a special vapor fan to "suck away" any vapors or aerosols from the mercury as he removed it, but it didn't seem to make a huge difference. I had all my fillings replaced with the white composite ones and one porcelain crown (which was like $1400 in itself, retardedly expensive). There is also something called dental restoration compatibility testing which a naturopath or homeopath can do to see if your body is compatible with the new filling materials. I never had it done but wish I had. I was just so desperate to get the mercury out of my mouth.

I have no idea how long it takes to get it out of your system. I am currently taking an oral chelator called DMSA. It's hard to tell if it is helping to remove the metal from my system or if just having my fillings removed has helped.

If you have the extra money, I would definitely go to a dentist who knows what they are doing. Also, if you get the composite white fillings, I have heard they are difficult to work with, so an experienced dentist would be important. I called a naturopathic doctor's office to get a referral to the "mercury free" dentist (the one with the big fan).

I am just in the beginning stages of detoxing from mercury and have just kind of had to do the trial and error thing to find what works and what doesn't work. if you want more info, just ask. Good luck.

Thanks for the replies rhody and nofxer. Much appreciated.

Rhody, I have no doubts about the abilities of my dentist. He is excellent at his work and I feel he would do a great job at replacing my fillings.

My concern lies as to whether he is 'mercury-aware', which I don't think he is as he put amalgams in me in the first place. I doubt very much if he would take any precautions to guard me from the mercury exposed during removal (or himself for that matter). I do think he would give me a dental dam if I asked though.

One thing that was concerning me was whether he would leave any trace of the amalgam behind in the cavity and just put the white filling over the top of it. I don't want this to happen. I suppose I could ask him to make sure it is all removed.

In response to your questions,

I have no (known) major health problems. I do suffer a white coating on my tongue which I believe could be related to my amalgam fillings though. I am a fairly fit and healthy young (23) man.

My main concerns (and reason for wanting removal) with my amalgams at the moment is future problems they may cause, and just getting rid of a possibly toxic substance from my mouth, sooner rather than later. So, Yes, I am just satisfied with having the amalgam out of my mouth.

I am just worried that the actual removal procedure may cause 'mercury' problems if I don't see a specialist mercury-free dentist. Or is this something I should not worry about at all?

If I went ahead and had the replacements done by my regular dentist with no mercury 'protection' at all, do you think I will suffer from the procedure or not?

Thanks again for helping me out. This is something I can't stop thinking about at the moment so I really really appreciate your help guys. :)

Is there anything you can help me with about anything in this post?

Thanks.

Can you guys offer any advice on whether you think I will suffer as a result of removal of amalgams?

Hey Diggler,

I can't say for sure if you would suffer or not. If it were me, I would take the necessary precautions. If you want to stick with your regular dentist, ask for a rubber dam for sure and possibly some sort of mask to put over your nose so you don't breathe in any mercury vapors. If your dentist is not willing to do this and still believes that amalgam fillings are "safe", I would maybe consider seeing someone else.

There is a huge debate on whether amalgam fillings are actually safe or not. I don't see how they could be. They are considered toxic waste once they are removed from your mouth and there are special handling and storage procedures before they are placed in your mouth. Yet somehow once they are in your mouth, they are apparently safe and non-toxic. This just doesn't make any sense. I'm not some big conspiracy theory subscriber, but I do believe that the public is often mislead and misinformed when it comes to what is supposedly safe and what isn't. If I were you, (and I was in a way because I just had the same thing done about a month ago) I would do what I could to protect myself from any possible harm.

Thanks.

I think I will stick with my regular dentist and ask for a rubber dam. I doubt he would give me a mask.

I'm reluctant to go to another dentist, because I trust my current dentist 100% when it comes to the actual dental work. Its just the precautions he may take.

I think the rubber dam wouldn't be a problem for him. And i think I will ask him to make sure that all the amalgam compound is removed from the tooth fully.

Many Thanks for the advice guys. :)

Why are you getting your amalgam fillings removed?

If it is for the "dangers of mercury toxicity" then I would advise against their removal. There is no scientific evidence that dental amalgams are dangerous. Eating one can of tuna will give you more mercury than "leaking mercury" coming from all of your fillings combined.

Please see other posts regarding experiences from people who had their amalgam fillings removed and replaced with "white" composites.

It is unfortunate that dentists are financially motivated to scare patients into replacing amalgams with the white fillings. If you do so, you will regret it later.

Solid and liquid forms of substances have different physical and chemical properties.....I would believe that the solid form in your mouth has different (lower) leaching than the liquid or vapor form (when it is being put in or removed.

I am just guessing, though, based on my science background. :-)

Hi all, :wave:

The topic here is safe amalgam removal. If any of you would like to discuss (not argue or debate) the safety of dental amalgams, I'd be glad to start another thread. There's too much misinformation circulating....

After recovering my health with the removal of my dental amalgams, it's a very important issue for me. For example, a lot of people may mention scientific evidence...yet I wonder if they have read the latest scientific evidence? It's changing all the time, as scientists discover new things.

Do you all know that mercury from these metal dental fillings constantly leak and accumulate in the body? Do you know the rate of leakage varies with many different conditions? Do you know that the number of dental fillings affects this acumulation? Do you know that mercury fillings have never been proven to be safe? Do you know that absence of proof is no proof of absence?

Also we could review the different types of white fillings. Some groups feel that some of these could be toxic too. I'm glad that I had porcelain fillings placed, as it seems that these are one of the better white filling replacements. Thanks. :)

I replaced all my amalgams with composites (not porcelain which would have been a better choise although they cost five times as much as composite) and I am probably now after five years going to have the amalgams put back in or go with gold or porcelain inlays. Composites have no history of use or data to support their safety in biting surfaces. No one ever used them for biting surface fillings up until recently because they were thought to wear away fast, shrink while bonding causing sensetivity, were prone to recurrent decay (half of all composites replaced today are replaced for recurrent decay, according to dental colleges). silver amalgams fillings rarely ever have recurrent decay. Silver amalgams are in nearly everyone's mouth in the world, and .0000000001 percent of people take issue with them, scapegoating them for their health problems, and an even smaller percentage of people may actually be allergic to amalgam. If they were actually a problem allmost everyone in the world would be sick, and they are not. 150 years of widespread usage in back teeth vs. composites 2 years of widespread usage in back teeth. In two more years all those fillings could go bad, and because there is no history to these fillings on back teeth, no one knows, but everyone is certainly excited to see. Dentists make a ton of money replacing good silver fillings for no reason other that "esthetics". And many times this is the result of dentiist soliciting customers to do so with pictures of before and after white filling replacing silver amalgams. Mercury is in air, water and our food to a certain extent. Mercury is found to a large extent in sea fish, which are one of the most healthy foods anyone could eat. Mercury does leak from the filllings, but it is not to an extent that it effects harldy anyone in the world's health. And teh benefits of amalgam outweigh the risks. Amalgams self adjust in height to the exact height of you rbite and original tooth. Composites are hardened then shaved multiple times to try to attain the perfect height, but it is never possible with composites to attain the height perfection that comes standard with amalgams. Composites bond to the tooth while they are cured and they also shrink about 4%. Take the bonding and add the shrinkage and what do you get? You guessed it - the lateral walls of the tooth preparation are bent inward about 2 degrees on each side, which causes pain for weeks sometimes months and sometimes it does not end after these fillings are put in. Amalgams self seal by corroding to fill any gaps that are present and prevent leakage leading to recurrent decay. And the very mercury that leaks negligably into your mouth is the same mercury and silver that prevents bacteria from growing under the filling. BActeria can't survive around mercury or silver. They sure can on plastic which is what composite is - plastic acrylic fluid mixed with small glass particles. And they release formaldehyde. Amalgams are used by about 90% of dentists worldwide on back teeth. About 10% of dentists worldwide believe in using composites in back teeth. That alone tells us something. If composites are sop good, why do most dentists and dental associations and governments condemn their usage in back teeth? Because no one knows anything about thow they will perform. The studies that have been done show they need to be replaced often.