Amalgam fillings & dental mercury poisoning – a major cause of health deterioration
“Never has so much harm been done to so many by so few”.
Professor Murray J. Vimy
(Professor of oral medicine at Calgary University, Canada, speaking about dental mercury in the year 2000).
Mercury amalgam fillings were first used in dentistry in 1826. They consist of an amalgam of silver, tin, copper, and zinc dissolved in about 50% mercury. As long ago as in 1926, the German chemist, Dr Alfred Stock, proved that mercury amalgam fillings are a source of toxic mercury vapour and that dental amalgam fillings are toxic mercury implants.
Mercury is a toxic, volatile heavy metal and dental technicians must wear protective clothing when preparing amalgam fillings and dentists have to send removed mercury fillings to approved agencies for safe disposal to prevent the dental mercury from getting into the ecosystem. If small amounts of removed dental mercury can contaminate the ecosystem, they must be highly toxic in people’s mouths.
In 1998, a report commissioned by the Swedish Government, stated that ‘mercury from amalgam fillings is liable to damage the central nervous system, the kidneys and the immune system.’ and in view of this, dental mercury was banned in Sweden and Denmark.
In the United Kingdom, dental mercury implants are not permitted for pregnant women and young children. This advice disregards the adverse effects of dental mercury poisoning on older children and adults. It also disregards the adverse effect of maternal dental mercury poisoning on unborn babies. At this clinic, maternal mercury toxicity has been found to cause attention deficiency disorder in a child so that it is advisable, for women to have their mercury dental fillings safely removed before starting a family.
The first symptoms of mercury toxicity are fatigue, anxiety and depression. Medical conditions associated with dental mercury poisoning include chronic fatigue syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, muscular dystrophy, heart disease, hypertension, asthma, and migraine. There are many credible accounts about people, who have “miraculously” recovered from chronic illnesses as a result of mercury detoxification and safe removal of their dental mercury fillings.
Factors predisposing to mercury toxicity
These include the number of fillings, the length of time in place, other nearby fillings with variable metallic components (particularly gold), related dental caries and, above all, the patient’s own ability to excrete mercury, since some people are better able to excrete mercury than others.
Animal and human autopsy studies
In the intestine, swallowed mercury has been shown to poison healthy microflora, which weakens immune system and predisposes to chronic antibiotic resistant infection with a tendency to allergies.
Human autopsy studies indicate that mercury is deposited in the brain, kidneys, intestine, liver and heart, and that the amount of mercury deposited in these tissues correlates with the total number of amalgam fillings and the number of years that they have been in place.
Mercury amalgam fillings in sheep have been shown to significantly impair kidney function within a few weeks of placement.
Clinical considerations
The mouths of all chronically ill patients should be examined for mercury amalgam fillings. If found, the voltages between each filling and the buccal mucosa (inside of the cheek) should be measured using a simple voltmeter set to measure 2 volts (2000 mV). The voltages associated will each amalgam filling should be identified and recorded. Amalgam fillings with voltages above 100 mV are particularly liable to be pathogenic. When clinically indicated, the patient should be treated naturopathically for chronic mercury poisoning and referred to a mercury free dentist to have the toxic amalgam fillings replaced.
Since acidic saliva promotes galvanic currents (battery effect), an alkalizing toothpaste may be beneficial. Also, because heavy chewing and very hot drinks cause release of mercury vapour, it is not advisable for people with amalgam dental fillings to chew gum or to take their drinks very hot.
Dental considerations
Safe removal and replacement of mercury amalgam fillings requires post-graduate dental expertise. Protocols vary between dentists, although most prefer to remove only one or two amalgam fillings during a session and to restrict treatment to one dental quadrant at a time.
Mercury free dentists generally use rubber dams in their patient’s mouths to prevent mercury particles from being swallowed. They may also use high volume suction with copious irrigation. A nasal tube providing oxygen or air may also be used to reduce inhalation of mercury particles. The amalgam dental fillings are removed carefully using special tungsten carbide dental drills that cut through the fillings without vaporising them.
White resin fillings are less durable than mercury amalgam fillings and are most suitable for teeth that are not used for grinding. Porcelain crowns and gold fillings are as durable as amalgam fillings and are suitable for grinding teeth but are more expensive than white fillings.
Since removing amalgam fillings causes some release of mercury, it is advisable for naturopathic detoxification of the mercury poisoning to be started several weeks before dental treatment and to be continued for several months afterwards.
Author: Dr Stephen Bourne (MB, MRCGP)
DR STEPHEN BOURNE qualified in Medicine at the Royal London Hospital in 1966. Following a career as an NHS general practitioner, he specialises in naturopathic integrative functional medicine.
During retirement from general practice, he studied a three year course in homotoxicology (modern homeopathy) at The Academy of Homotoxicology and Bioregulatory Medicine and in 2004 gained an honours diploma. In 2015, he was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the British Society of Bioregulatory Medicine.
He has been a guest lecturer in naturopathic integrative medicine for the Biomedic Centre in London and for the British Society of Homeopaths.
He is a full member of the Complementary Medical Association.