Well, I went ahead and did some work because I thought the silver fillings were bad for my lips because I can't figure out what is wrong with them. I had 5 white fillings done and 1 crown with a new dentist because my old one didn't do white fillings. I went to see my old one because they were causing me discomfort, and he said that they were done horrible! He needs to redo all of them, in gold which is a fortune, but I would like to have teeth! He said he drilled so deep that I may have to have up to 3 root canals! I am so upset that I can't even see straight! Has anyone ever heard of having 3? I am going today at 1:00. I'm so scared and upset. What should I do? I HATE this other dentist and told his receptionist that I won't be back and I have to have them all redone. I want to sue him so bad for ruining my mouth! Is my mouth ruined now?

Kellybelly,

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Can you see a number of "cosmetic" dentists for a consultation, for them to help you understand this better? Can you find out what was wrong, before making a decision? If it was done horrible, do you know why it was horrible?

It's best in everything to find out all the facts first in detail. Do you have a friend or someone you know that could help you with all of this? It's hard for us on the internet to really know what to do or which dentist to believe. Again, sorry to hear about that.

Hi, Kelly. Your post made me so sad. I hope you can get your problems resolved, without having to suffer too much. Reading your post brought to mind something I had to learn the hard way, myself: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. After you get these problems worked out, never let a dentist perform work on your teeth that you are not absolutely sure you need. In your case, you wanted the white fillings; so the dentist you went to was only doing as you requested him to. I also went through an experience with a molar of mine. After having it filled (which I now know he put a very deep filling in)in 1974; that tooth caused me great pain for years. Only now is it starting to feel better, thank God. But I had to have root canals done, an Apio, crown, etc...on it. BUT, you may not need the root canals done for a long time. I have other teeth with deep fillings in them; and so far, these teeth haven't died. I have had dentists tell me that several of my teeth could just die any any time; but they might also be fine for years. This one molar of mine has given me the most trouble. So don't depair; just try and take it as it comes. Don't stress out over maybe needing root canals down the line..don't borrow trouble. I now am very cautious about my teeth. I have crowns that don't look great in my mouth, but as long as they aren't bothering me, I will leave them alone. To me, it isn't worth the risk; having a dentist remove fillings, and put new, different ones in. But now you know....good luck to you, Kelly. Please let us know how you're doing.

Kellybelly,

I had some more comments and questions. As the other person has said, I feel really sad for you too.

What type of discomfort are you feeling? When I had my white fillings put in, I had some sensitivity to hot and cold liquids shortly afterwards. But all that slowly passed, within a few months. Now, I have no discomfort whatsoever.

Also, if your old dentist doesn't put in white fillings, how does he or she know that they are horrible? Maybe everything is really fine. With all that dental work done in a short time, I would think that it could be discomforting with any type of procedure done on your teeth. Maybe you just need some time....

If you are still having problems, would you be able to see a "cosmetic" dentist that is an expert at this type of dental restoration? I think that you need someone who is the best at this type of work, not just comments from a dentist that doesn't have enough experience with that speciality.

I hope that you are feeling better....

I have been having toothaches and headaches since the teeth were filled. I just assumed it was because they were new and I was going to give it time. After I got the fillings, I asked my dentist if I will be in pain, and he was like, no, youll feel so much better! When my other dentist, and the root canal dr. (forgot the name of those) looked at the new fillings, they said they were all very close to the root, and the one that I had the crown put on was right on the root. Now I'm in pain and beating myself up over it. I'm so scared and worried about my teeth and what will happen to them. I was going to the dentist every 6 months and taking good care of them. I don't know how decay happens underneath a filling like that. I just wonder if it has anything to do with my metal allergy. When I removed the first 4, I did see a major change with my lips. The last 2 I didn't notice. I still have 3 on the left side, and my lower lip is now a little more swollen on the left. Very weird.

Kellybelly,

Since I had gone through all of this, when I noticed my sensitivity to my mercury-silver dental amalgams about 8 years ago, I speak from experience.

From the internet, it is difficult to know exactly all the scientific reasons that things are happening to you. That's why I hope that you have been able to receive the best in medical and professional dental care. However, maybe I've been able to help.

Do you remember what I wrote previously? I'll copy it again for you. Here it is:

**************************************** *******
Also if you are having any mercury-silver dental amalgams removed, don't forget to ask the dentist about a dental dam, to reduce exposure of mercury being accidentally swallowed. Remember also, if you are allergic to the mercury in these amalgams too, that when these are removed you can possibly have some increase in exposure to these toxins.

If these metals indeed in your mouth are giving you troubles, recognize that that will be the second phase of cleansing that you will have to undergo, which is the removal of these substances from your body, after the metal fillings are completely removed. You might want to take notes during all of these procedures, so if anything it can help you and others understand what happened during the course of this. My notes during my mercury-silver dental amalgam removal process, which described my body's reactions, further convinced me that I was doing the right thing. It's been almost eight years with a mercury free mouth. It was a long road to take, but I'm grateful every day for my improved health. Best of luck.
**************************************** *******

My suggestion is to write copious notes with lots of details - everything. The reactions like headaches, and toothaches could be reactions of the toxins that are being removed (and then maybe it's something else). Such notes may help your doctor understand better. That's very interesting that your lip changed when the first four mercury-silver dental amalgams were removed.

When my tooth broke and exposed my dental amalgam 8 years ago, I had headaches that would not quit. Pain relievers would not make them go away. I was very scared. I slept and was awake with these headaches. I was so glad to get rid of those poisons. My dentist first got rid of the exposed amalgam; then my headaches stopped or were reduced substantially.

There's no way that I or anyone can tell for certain, but some of us can relate. For reasons unknown, some people are more sensitive than others to mercury, and in your case it appears to be nickel too.

If you go on the theory that increased exposure to the metals in your mouth is causing you these problems, you could assist in the removal of these toxins in this fashion. You might want to try making natural fruit drinks by mixing them up in a blender. Don't get the canned stuff. Make this from fresh bananas, apples, oranges, strawberries, pears etc. to your liking. Always start small, and increase slowly. I don't think it's a good idea to take supplements, unless you are doing it under the direction of a doctor. I experimented once with three components, and got extremely sick. I was trying to help remove the mercury faster. Well, it was a big mistake. But natural fruit juice (drink a lot like it was water) should assist in moving out the poisons without a reaction. But again, start out slowly to make sure that it's safe for you.

I'm also experimenting with raw cilantro. (You just mix it with your food, for flavoring). A couple of years ago, a doctor found that it assisted in the removal of mercury, by noting that there was an increase of this metal in urine samples. You can find that story on the internet. A friend of mine also told me about it. With this cilantro, I haven't noticed great improvements, but I'm feeling so good lately, that it's like taking the last drops from the bucket.

I'm still running, hiking, and walking about 25 miles a week. It was a long long road. I was so sick for about 20 years that I thought I was wheelchair bound; the sickness got worse as I got older. I had fibromyalgia symptoms, loose teeth, and gum disease. It's been about 8 years since I had the amalgams removed, and the healing didn't occur overnight. I wanted to better right away, but then I began to read more and discovered that it was a slow process. My own observations also proved that it was a slow process, but it was worth it. I'm healed today and it's all a distant memory.

I hope that you make these improvements like I did, and that the headaches and toothaches are just the after-affects of those toxins. I also hope also that your second dentist put the white fillings in properly. Maybe everything will be OK. I'm wishing you the best. Take care.

Thank you so much Rhody! You have really made me feel as though I'm not such a nut! Thanks for taking so much time and helping me so much throughout this whole mess! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

rhody - I'm glad to see you are spreading your well written miss information to the desperate yet medically ignorant people on this board.

Kellybelly99 - There is little I can do for you in terms of evaluating the quality of your dental work over the net. I had some fillings done recently and had a lot of discomfort afterwards which did go away, but some hurt off and on for a few weeks. The person doing the fillings was a friend of mine, one was quite deep, and he used a large lowspeed handpiece which causes a lot of tooth vibrations when its being used which cause a lot of soreness afterwards. The fillings are all now fine. This being said it IS possible that the fillings done for you were to deep, but before you get 1000's of dollars of work done I would have your records sent (you don't OWN your own dental records but you can get copies) to a new dentist for a third opinion. Some dentists are very 'aggressive' on doing root canals/crows while others are quite conservative. Both have their reasons, and while its easy to say 'one is greedy' thats often not the case, its just different philosophies in treatment. While one will say 'this will likely need a root canal treatment and a crown soon, I better do them', I would say 'this may need a root canal treatment and a crown some day, but not now, we can hold off treatment for now as she might not need it for many years if at all, and if she does we will do the same treatment anyway.'

As for your mercury fears, I can understand them as people are constantly stressing how evil mercury is and acting as if dentists are covering this up. As a dentist I can say its quite the opposite. We dentists would make a FORTUNE if amalgam fillings turned out to be really toxic. There would be millions and millions of fillings to replace, the researcher who proved it would win big awards for doing a great service to the population, and no one would be libel as such fillings have been done for 100 years by every dentist ever graduated. We fight such people as rhody because we are doctors who CARE about the people who put trust in us and don't want to see them frightened and harmed by a few unscrupulous doctors. Please follow the following link, http://www.quackwatch.com/cgi-bin/mfs/24/home/sbinfo/public_html/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/mercury.html?4#mfs for some interesting information on dental amalgams. There is a LOT of misinformation out there (as rhody for links, I wonder if he still gives the one to the guy who sells herbal products which have been proven worthless), and a lot of lies but this is 'on the level' and you might find other articles at the site quite interesting as well.

Dr. Phier,

There is no misinformation....

The primary topic here, is someone's white fillings that are giving her problems, not the mercury issue. If you would like to discuss this as a separate topic, I would be glad to respond, as long as you avoid the personal attacks. Last time, you gave up on this, after I presented to you overwhelming evidence. I look forward to yet another time. Thank you.

Mercury just like anything else can cause a reaction in anyone. I know that you don't want to believe it, but people can be sensitive or have a reaction to ANYTHING, including water!

Rhody-I don't know what to do. I love the dentist that I have had for years, but he doesn't do white. He only does gold and silver. Do you think since my problem is the silver fillings, I would be OK with gold, or not? What should I do?

Kellybelly,

With your apparent sensitivity to some metals, that would be hard to second guess. From what I have read, gold fillings for most people do not appear to cause problems. With the typical gold filling, it does not contain mercury that leaks, such as you would find with mercury-silver dental amalgams. But you should also know in very rare cases, that some people may not be biocompatible to those gold fillings either as it may contain other metals such as platinum, silver, copper, gallium, iridium, and palladium. So in a way, the words "gold fillings" is a misnomer, just as is in the words "silver fillings" in reference to these dental restoration materials. The metal content and type of these gold fillings vary, so you would have to ask your dentist to give you a precise breakdown.

If I were in your shoes, I would try to speak with a third or even a fourth dentist that understands both white fillings and gold fillings, such as a "cosmetic" dentist. Can you get a copy of your dental X-rays to share with this new dentist? I would hate to see you go through all of that again, if it wasn't necessary. Would you be able to see someone like that at no cost or low cost for consultation? Maybe you could go visit the new dentist with a friend. Sometimes going in with a friend is best, because as a patient, we sometimes can not think rationally or objectively because we often are more concerned about the procedures etc.

Could this third or fourth dentist evaluate the situation and see if the second dentist really did a bad job? The more information that you get to understand all of this from professionals, the better I think that you will be. They can see exactly what was done, and with their years of professional experience, they could help. Of course, you would want to find someone that you are comfortable with.

Also, if you are not in a lot of severe pain, would you be able to give it some time, to see if the toothaches and headaches lessen? How have you been doing lately?

I also think continually consulting with your professional medical care is important too, particularly with someone that understands your special situation. Can you find someone else that can test you for other allergens? My naturopath helped me before I had the white fillings put in my teeth. I also was very fortunate to have excellent dental care.

I hope that you are feeling better and everything works out well. Take care.

Ok I give up.

(repeats over and over how glad he is he went into orthodontics)

Dr.Phier