Another article: DENTAL AMALGAM MERCURY POISONING
© 1996 Ron Kennedy, M.D. > Although technically speaking, dental amalgams are not in the general ken of > medicine but rather dentistry the problem is so widespread, I would be > seriously remiss not to bring it to your attention. The problem of dental > amalgams is the problem of mercury poisoning. Mercury is a natural element, > a toxic heavy metal, which is highly volatile, the vapor form having the > ability to kill cells outright rather than merely do damage. Mercury is > used in thermometers and also is known as "quicksilver." The breakage of a > mercury thermometer is a potential, although usually unrecognized, medical > emergency. Once exposed to air, mercury vaporizes rapidly. If inhaled it > makes its way into the tissues of the body in minutes. A large dose can be > lethal. Like all heavy metals, mercury is found in two basic forms: > inorganic and organic. Inorganic mercury is found in nature. Organic > mercury has passed through a living system of some sort and has come out in > the chelated form. One particularly dangerous form of mercury is methylated > mercury, which is produced by the chelating systems of certain bacteria. If > inorganic mercury is found in your amalgams and these bacteria are found in > your digestive tract, the inorganic mercury will eventually make its way to > the bacteria where it will be converted to methylated mercury and from > there make its way to your brain! Methylated mercury is hundreds of times > more toxic than inorganic mercury and has a particular affinity for the > brain where the symptom complex can include mild to severe intellectual > impairment and/or emotional impairment. Only chelation therapy can fully > and reliably remove this toxin from your body. An ounce of prevention is > surely worth a pound of cure. It is much better to never have amalgams put > in. If you already have them I heartily recommend you have them removed as > soon as possible. Amalgam, or what dentist sometimes call "silver > fillings," is made from fifty percent mercury, thirty-five percent silver > and fifteen percent tin, or tin mixed with copper, and a trace of zinc. > This blend is easy for a dentist to work with, and it is much less > expensive than gold. It also lasts a long time. Until the mid-1980s > dentists assumed no mercury vapor was released from amalgam fillings. Since > then, studies have proven a significant level of mercury vapor is released > by simply chewing your food. The federal agency responsible for regulation > of allowable levels of substances at the workplace has established 50 > ug./cc as the maximum allowable level of mercury vapor in the workplace. > The average level of mercury vapor in the mouths of people with amalgams > varies between 50 and 150 ug./cc. When removed from your mouth, dental > amalgam is considered a toxic waste by the Environmental Protection Agency > and must be handled in a certain way to protect dental office personnel > from mercury poisoning. This is the same stuff, unchanged, which just came > out of your tooth! There are over 125 known symptoms of mercury toxicity. > Most of them are vague and nonspecific. It is not known what role mercury > toxicity may play in MS (multiple sclerosis) and ALS (amyotrophic lateral > sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's Disease), however Dr. Hal Huggins, a dentist in > Colorado Springs, Colorado has developed a protocol for amalgam removal and > replacement, and in treating large numbers of MS and ALS patients has > noticed improvement of symptoms in 91%. People who were wheelchair bound > often get up and walk, sometimes on the same day as amalgam removal! This > rather amazing result is thought to be due to removal of oral galvanic > activity and its effect on the base of the brain. You probably have heard > of people whose dental amalgams serve as radio antennas. Some of these > people actually can hear the local radio stations in their mouths. This > much induced electrical activity must have an effect on the brain, and > judging from the results of amalgam removal in some cases, this electrical > activity must somehow cause or potentiate paralysis. Other people have > nervous system symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, depression, loss of > appetite, and these people also demonstrate a high incidence of recovery > from these troublesome symptoms after removal of dental amalgams. Many > people with severe longstanding depression are cured by amalgam removal and > chelation. When a physician hears these vague symptoms from a patient > he/she may not even consider mercury toxicity, because these symptoms can > be caused by many other conditions and illnesses. Also, the patient forgets > to mention the new amalgams, and the doctor usually doesn't ask. The > dentist, of course, doesn't even hear about these symptoms, because the > patient thinks of the dentist as the tooth doctor, and the symptoms of > mercury poisoning seem to have nothing to do with teeth. It is necessary to > be aware of a diagnosis before it is possible to make that diagnosis, and > the doctor usually does not even suspect the diagnosis of mercury toxicity. > Many people, who actually are poisoned with mercury, are thought of as > chronic complainers by their doctors who try to lend a sympathetic ear but > actually ignore the complaints, because they do not know what else to do. > Many a patient with a mouth full of amalgams has heard these words: "It's > all in your head." Of course, that is right, if you remember the mouthful > of amalgams is in the head and jaw. A few of the symptoms which are > possible from mercury poisoning are vomiting, gastritis, colitis, excessive > salivation, abdominal pain, depression, anger, sleep disturbance, > headaches, heart attack, dizziness, speech disorders, leg cramps, > clumsiness, bad breath, fatigue and irritability just to name some of the > 125 which have been documented so far. The official American Dental > Association position on amalgam is that not enough mercury is released to > pose a hazard this despite hard evidence to the contrary. Dental schools > have long taught the rationalization that the mercury is bound to the > silver in the amalgam and does not escape to poison the patient. This is > wrong. In the U.S., dentistry, as a profession, does not question this > party line. They respect authority as represented by their trade union, the > ADA, too much to be objective about the matter. Of course, there are > exceptions. My dentist is a fellow named Allan Liles, and he is very aware > of the truth of this matter. With his good information I have written some > of this chapter. However, if you talk to the typical dentist in the U.S., > that person will tell you not to worry about your amalgams. In Europe, as > usual in such things, there is much more awareness about this issue. > Dentists in Europe recommend against using amalgams and suggest the use of > composite (a plastic substance) or gold to fill teeth recently deprived of > their rot. Most dentists in the U.S. will drill out your amalgams and > replace them, if you insist. However, I would not have anyone work on my > amalgams who does not really understand the dangers involved. If a dentist > does not take this issue seriously, he or she may not be diligent in > getting the last bit of amalgam out of each filling before covering it over > with gold or composite. If you already have symptoms of mercury toxicity, > these symptoms are coming from mercury already vaporized from your amalgams > and now residing in the tissues of your body, particularly in your brain > cells. The amalgams represent a source of future further intoxication and, > for that reason, should be removed. However, to rid your body of the > mercury which is causing the symptoms, only a course of chelation therapy > will do the job. Chelation therapy with EDTA has myriad benefits for your > health, aside from removing mercury. However, if removing mercury is the > only thing you want to get done, the best chelating agent for mercury, by > far, is 2,3 dimercapto-1-propane-sulfonic acid or DMPS for short. Two to > four treatments with DMPS, lasting a few minutes each, will usually do the > job, and the result can be confirmed with pre- and post-treatment > measurement of urine mercury concentration. Remember, mercury enters the > body through inhalation. It is not necessary to touch the stuff. People who > should be concerned about mercury intoxication, aside from those with > dental amalgams in their mouths, are dentists, dental assistants, dental > office personnel anyone who has been around the use of amalgam; people > living in the vicinity of mercury mines even if those mines have been > closed for years; people living around volcanoes active or dormant. I > recommend that people in all these categories be tested for mercury. > However, a serum or urine mercury level is an inadequate test, because > mercury does not like to come out of the cells in which it is stored. A > proper test is conducted with DMPS, which liberates a large amount of > mercury. Urine mercury concentration, according to Godfrey and Campbell, > shows a sixty-fold increase after DMPS administration in people with > amalgam, a thirty-fold increase in dental personnel without amalgams, and > only a ten-fold increase in people who have had their amalgams removed > followed by a course of chelation therapy. These are average figures, of > course, and the study quoted was carefully controlled and statistically > significant. Therefore, DMPS is not only the treatment of choice for > mercury toxicity, but measurement of urine mercury concentration after > administration of DMPS also is the only adequate laboratory test to > correctly diagnose mercury intoxication. A high output of mercury in the > urine after intravenous DMPS indicates mercury intoxication. A low level of > mercury in the urine in the absence of DMPS administration means nothing > except that mercury does not readily come out of the intracellular space. > U.S. dentists, with some notable exceptions, disparage the idea of > amalgam-associated mercury toxicity. This is unfortunate for their > patients, as well as for the dentists themselves. There is little room for > doubt, the unusual incidence of depression and high rate of suicide in > dentists is related to mercury toxicity. Europe, led by Sweden, where > dental amalgam is being phased out, is coming around to an official > recognition of this problem. Sooner or later, American dentistry must > follow. Better late than never, folks! When having amalgam removed, you > will be exposed to a large dose of mercury vapor. This is unavoidable. You > should arrange to have an intravenous vitamin C infusion that same day an > hour or two before or after the dental work. This large dose of vitamin C > will chelate the mercury and allow you to excrete it through your kidneys, > thus preventing damage to the brain, immune system, etc., caused by the > sudden increase in mercury level. Unfortunately, your dentist is not > licensed to give this infusion but should be able to refer you to a medical > doctor who can do this service for you. If you need a referral to a dentist > in your community who is informed about the amalgam issue, contact: The > Environmental Dental Association 10160 Aviary Dr. San Diego, CA 92131 (800) > 388-8124 Sources Phelps R, Clarkson T Interrelationship of blood and hair > mercury concentrations in a North American population exposed to methyl > mercury. Arch Env Health 1980;35:161-165 > Svare CW, Peterson LC, Reinhart JW et al. The effect of dental amalgams on > mercury level in expired air. J Dent Res 1981;60:1666-1671 > Gay DD, Cox RD, Reinhart JW Chewing releases mercury from fillings. Lancet > 1979;1:985-986 > Vimy MJ, Lorscheider FL Intraoral mercury from dental amalgams. J Dent Res > 1985;64:1069-1071 > Friberg L, Kullman I, Lind B, et al. Mercury in the central nervous system > and its relationship with amalgam fillings. Lakartidningen 1986;83:519-122. > (Swedish) > Godfrey M, Campbell N Confirmation of mercury retention and toxicity using > 2,3 dimercapto-1-propane sulphonic acid sodium salt (DMPS). J of Adv in Med > 1994;vol. 7 no. 1:19-30
