Mercury Fillings – to remove or not to remove

[246bride]

Hi all!

I did a search “for mercury fillings” and read a lot of interesting “stuff”. Today I had a dentist appointment. I hadn’t been in 3 years (yikes). Any way, he mentioned that my two mercury fillings seemed to be leaking based on the color of my tooth. He showed it to me and it made sense. I had vaguely remembered reading about Mercury on this board so I knew there had been some connection between it and autoimmune disease. Therefore, I went ahead and made the appointment to get them changed out to the white fillings in two weeks. But now, since I’ve read more, I am having second thoughts and find myself very nervous about the whole thing. Some have said it’s thrown them into a terrible flare. I am just starting my 4th month of AP and I am finding SLIGHT improvement. I’d hate to have a major set back, but at the same time I would love to remove one more thing that could possibly be contributing to my poor health.

Also, I am so confused as to what type of detox/diet/protocol/IV/supplements.. (head is spinning) I should do if I move forward with getting them removed. Are there specific mercury detoxes? If so, who do I talk to about them and get necessary scripts or treatment? How do I know if my dentist can do this without making the problem (if there is one) bigger? Any advice is MUCH appreciated and so treasured.

Thank you!
Carey

[Trudi]

@246bride wrote:

But now, since I’ve read more, I am having second thoughts and find myself very nervous about the whole thing.

I have an appointment this afternoon at 4:30 to have a cracked tooth fortified and in doing so the dentist will be removing the mercury filling and replacing with a composite. My chiropractor OK’d it and said to detox after. I hope I won’t be sorry. I’ll let you know what I decide to do. Need to make up my mind soon, it’s noon here.
Take care,
Trudi

Lyme/RA; AP 4/2008 off and on to 3/2010; past use of quinolones may be the cause of my current problems, (including wheelchair use); all supplements (which can aggravate the condition) were discontinued on 10/14/2012. Am now treating for the homozygous MTHFR 1298 mutation. Off of all pain meds since Spring '14 (was on them for years--doctor is amazed--me too). Back on pain med 1/2017. Reinfected? Frozen shoulder?

[pattyrod]

Ladies,

I had a very small silver filing removed in October 2011. I didn’t need it removed, but wanted to have it replaced and remove any potential source of mercury from my body. I’m working with a natural medicine practitioner and she warned me that I would feel horrible afterwards and to see her immediately. She was absolutely right! I started flaring the same day. I felt horrible for about 2.5 months. I’ve been chelating mercury in my body since June 2011 and continue to do so today. I use a product call Solidago from my natural medicine practitioner. It’s a very slow and gentle homeopathic chelation solution.

I did some research afterward my removal and the recommendations were to work with a biologic dentist. They are very familiar with silver filing removal and the resulting mercury vapors that can get back into your body. You actually get more mercury exposure from the filing removal than when the filing was first put in. Biologic dentists take greater precautions to prevent mercury exposure. It was also recommended that you work with a practitioner that can help you chelate the mercury before and after the removal. If you can’t work with a biologic dentist, request a rubber dam and high speed suction.

In the end, I’m glad I had it removed, but I sure did suffer for a while.

[Trudi]

Thanks for the input, Patty!

Lyme/RA; AP 4/2008 off and on to 3/2010; past use of quinolones may be the cause of my current problems, (including wheelchair use); all supplements (which can aggravate the condition) were discontinued on 10/14/2012. Am now treating for the homozygous MTHFR 1298 mutation. Off of all pain meds since Spring '14 (was on them for years--doctor is amazed--me too). Back on pain med 1/2017. Reinfected? Frozen shoulder?

[Trudi]

I canceled my appointment. I called and expressed my concern and also asked when I started having my old fillings disrupted whether for putting a crown on or fixing a crack, etc. and it was in February of 2003. I’ve had 10 disrupted amalgam fillings since. I was bitten by the tick in May of 2003 and have slowly gotten worse since. I wonder just how much the mercury has played a part. In 2008 when I was diagnosed with Lyme, my doctor did a heavy metal test and I had 4 times the amount of mercury that I should have. Guess I’ll need to do some investigating!

Thanks for your timely post, Carey, and your response, Patty.

Take care,
Trudi

Lyme/RA; AP 4/2008 off and on to 3/2010; past use of quinolones may be the cause of my current problems, (including wheelchair use); all supplements (which can aggravate the condition) were discontinued on 10/14/2012. Am now treating for the homozygous MTHFR 1298 mutation. Off of all pain meds since Spring '14 (was on them for years--doctor is amazed--me too). Back on pain med 1/2017. Reinfected? Frozen shoulder?

[PhilC]

Hi Carey,
@246bride wrote:

I did a search “for mercury fillings” and read a lot of interesting “stuff”. Today I had a dentist appointment. I hadn’t been in 3 years (yikes). Any way, he mentioned that my two mercury fillings seemed to be leaking based on the color of my tooth. He showed it to me and it made sense.

Are those the only two silver fillings that you have? I don’t understand how a leaking filling would affect the color of a tooth. In what way did the color change? And are those teeth bothering you at all?

Phil

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert Einstein

[pattyrod]

Trudi,

Does your muscle testing doctor test for heavy metals? Mine does and she is able to monitor my levels. My levels have been slowly dropping since June 2011.

Patty

[246bride]

@PhilC wrote:

Hi Carey,
@246bride wrote:

I did a search “for mercury fillings” and read a lot of interesting “stuff”. Today I had a dentist appointment. I hadn’t been in 3 years (yikes). Any way, he mentioned that my two mercury fillings seemed to be leaking based on the color of my tooth. He showed it to me and it made sense.

Are those the only two silver fillings that you have? I don’t understand how a leaking filling would affect the color of a tooth. In what way did the color change? And are those teeth bothering you at all?

Phil

Yes, I only have 2 of them and the teeth themselves are not bothering me. The discoloration is around the filling…kind of a light a light bluish gray.

[DragonSlayer]

Hi, Trudi:

…wonder just how much the mercury has played a part.

I had my amalgam fillings removed many years ago and the process did not cause me to flare, but I have AS.
And I never believed it helped with the disease at all, however, I would not have wanted to leave this toxic metal there, either.

Many years later in researching this issue, I found some papers that seemed to indicate that in some simian relatives dental amalgam seemed to affect some gut flora, making them less vulnerable to antibiotics and the natural immune system, also.

For the AS, I had much later been chelated, and then found out about the control of the germ that causes AS and in counseling people how to use diet to achieve ‘substrate modulation’ enough to reduce this bacterium, there was one individual who did not respond to the diet and it took over a year, but eventually he found elevated mercury in his system. After chelation treatments the diet worked for him. I had even nearly forgotten about the chelation, but I suppose every thing we do has some effect.

My friend, Dr. Max Garten, was a strong advocate for amalgam removal and told all of his patients to have it removed. One lady with confirmed MS had hers removed as she was already in a wheelchair at age 31. She was treated by him and followed food and fasting recommendations he made, but it took her many months–over a year–before she was again walking and soon had a baby that Max was as proud of as his very own. I met her and her newborn, and she had almost no MS symptoms then.

Then there are ADA studies following 5000 people over many years and NONE of them got MS!

So, which would be more convincing? If something causes MS in one person, perhaps it will have other consequences, albeit far less obvious, in many people or every person with this metal–who really knows?

There is a close connection between sinus issues and MS, and the proximity is something to ponder. Acinetobacter calcoaceticus could be the culprit there. More studies required.

HEALTH,
John

[Trudi]

@pattyrod wrote:

Does your muscle testing doctor test for heavy metals?

Hi Patty–
I missed your response for some reason, sorry about that.

I know she has, but can’t tell you now what the result was. My next appointment is end of January. I will have her check it. Funny, even though the post by Carey and your response got me moving, I had been reluctant to go in because in the back of my mind I knew I hadn’t been feeling well after my dentist appointments–I didn’t want to deal with changing dentists–although I only have one amalgam filling left so that may not even be the case. I’m sure the elevated mercury isn’t the entire problem, but certainly a contributing one. Glad to hear your levels are going down!

I am going to be talking to my electro-dermal doctor (who has an office with a group of biologic dentists) and I will ask him to check back to see how my metal levels were doing when I was seeing him. Since going to the chiropractor/muscle testing doctor, I haven’t seen him.

Take care,
Trudi

Lyme/RA; AP 4/2008 off and on to 3/2010; past use of quinolones may be the cause of my current problems, (including wheelchair use); all supplements (which can aggravate the condition) were discontinued on 10/14/2012. Am now treating for the homozygous MTHFR 1298 mutation. Off of all pain meds since Spring '14 (was on them for years--doctor is amazed--me too). Back on pain med 1/2017. Reinfected? Frozen shoulder?

[Trudi]

@DragonSlayer wrote:

My friend, Dr. Max Garten, was a strong advocate for amalgam removal and told all of his patients to have it removed. One lady with confirmed MS had hers removed as she was already in a wheelchair at age 31. She was treated by him and followed food and fasting recommendations he made, but it took her many months–over a year–before she was again walking and soon had a baby that Max was as proud of as his very own. I met her and her newborn, and she had almost no MS symptoms then.

Hi John–
Thanks for the information. Impressive what a turn around this woman experienced. And now a baby. Always encouraging to read.

I’ve watched your posts with interest because back in the early ’90’s I had a lot of problems (I think now Lyme related) saw LOTS of doctors, went to Mayo, all with no avail. Last I saw a doctor who was considered a “quack” because of his “outside the box” methods. Anyway, he found that I had klebsiella pneumoniae in my gut, treated me with Cipro, and pretty much put me in remission. Was so doctored out, I didn’t see another doctor for near 10 years. I know there is a link between klebsiella pneumoniae and ankylosing spondylitis so I watch your posts!

I will have the amalgam removed when the hairline crack is fixed–but it will probably be with a biologic dentist.

My husband had a cavity fixed today with his dentist. The irony of this all is that he had an amalgam filling put in 🙄 🙄 !!

Take care,
Trudi

Lyme/RA; AP 4/2008 off and on to 3/2010; past use of quinolones may be the cause of my current problems, (including wheelchair use); all supplements (which can aggravate the condition) were discontinued on 10/14/2012. Am now treating for the homozygous MTHFR 1298 mutation. Off of all pain meds since Spring '14 (was on them for years--doctor is amazed--me too). Back on pain med 1/2017. Reinfected? Frozen shoulder?

[PhilC]

Hi Carey,
@246bride wrote:

Yes, I only have 2 of them and the teeth themselves are not bothering me. The discoloration is around the filling…kind of a light a light bluish gray.

According to a little research I just did, the discoloration is due to corrosion. There was no mention of the discoloration being due to leakage, or that the fillings require replacement.

See:
http://www.colgate.com/app/CP/US/EN/OC/Information/Articles/Oral-and-Dental-Health-Basics/Checkups-and-Dental-Procedures/Fillings/article/Types-of-Fillings.cvsp
http://www.drgranny.com/2011/02/23/teeth-discoloration-causes/

Have you seen this dentist before? Some dentists will tell you things that aren’t true in order to get you to agree to dental work that really isn’t necessary. I’m not saying that they are lying, though. They probably believe what they are saying, even though it’s false. Back in 2005 I had a dentist tell me that my amalgam fillings were breaking down and leaking, and needed to be replaced. He wanted to replace all of my fillings for a charge of about $3000. I almost let him do it, too. Fortunately, I didn’t. I cancelled my appointment and made an appointment to see a different dentist. As it turned out, only one of my teeth needed a new filling.

Phil

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert Einstein

[Trudi]

@PhilC wrote:

According to a little research I just did, the discoloration is due to corrosion. There was no mention of the discoloration being due to leakage, or that the fillings require replacement.

Hi Phil–
Thanks for checking this out. First I heard of corrosion and unless I’m misunderstanding something, it’s not a good thing–
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrosion

My own dentist is totally against amalgams because of the mercury (he needs to meet all kinds of regulations when disposing a removal; have to protect Lake Michigan; I asked him what protection is required for the patient, dentist and assistant. None! 😯 ). He told me that the putting in and the taking out are the most dangerous to the patient. The in between shouldn’t affect the patient. (He never mentioned anything about corrosion.) My uncle is a dentist and when asked, said amalgams are no problem. Lots of tests were done to prove this, but on the flip side, lots of research was done to disprove this. For me, I have to have the tooth fixed, so will have the amalgam removed and hopefully, properly.

Take care,
Trudi

Lyme/RA; AP 4/2008 off and on to 3/2010; past use of quinolones may be the cause of my current problems, (including wheelchair use); all supplements (which can aggravate the condition) were discontinued on 10/14/2012. Am now treating for the homozygous MTHFR 1298 mutation. Off of all pain meds since Spring '14 (was on them for years--doctor is amazed--me too). Back on pain med 1/2017. Reinfected? Frozen shoulder?

[Parisa]

I took my husband to a biologic dentist because he had many mercury fillings and his mercury levels tested as high. I don’t know whether the high levels were due to his fillings or because in the year or so before he became ill he started eating tuna every day for lunch as part of a “healthy” lifestyle. Due to his illness, my husband was unable to use his hands to floss his teeth and wouldn’t let me help. Also, I believe the prednisone and just general illness caused his teeth to deteriorate. There was so much work to be done and at that time my husband was in such poor shape that the dentist thought it would be better to not mess with the fillings. My husband improved and now is basically recovered without removing all of his fillings. He has had some removed as he has required many crowns and root canals in the past few years.

[vera]

Tomorrow I have a large amalgam filling removal, and 2 crowns starting for a bridge. Any thoughts on detox following this procedure? I can’t afford to see a naturopath and must do it on my own. Many thanks for any suggestions!

Lori

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