A Mouth Covered in Poison
The first time I went to the dentist in the United Sates, I ended up with a silver filling. The dentist did not ask me the type of filling I wanted to get, so he just used what he thought was the best. I was scheduled for more "silver fillings" later that week, but I insisted not to go because I hated the idea of having the surface of my molar teeth covered in silver. Later in the future, I found out that the material he used for filling was DA (dental amalgam). This material is composed of many metals, 50% of which is mercury. I wondered how an ADA (American Dental Association) licensed dentist could still approve the amalgam when there is mercury in it. The answer was too obvious. There was not enough evidence to prove that amalgam is detrimental for our health.
However, in recent research done by toxicologists, it was discovered that amalgam is indeed detrimental for our health. The study was conducted on 43 children at very young ages. The sex was thought not play a major role in this experiment, but they still recorded them as half males and half females. The researchers made sure that all the children in the experiment were amalgam free and also that there was no consumption of fish. The number of amalgam teeth was also recorded. The goal of the entire experiment was to collect urine from every single amalgam free child right after the child received the new amalgam filling. After morning and evening samples were collected for a period of a week and a half, the results showed that children of both sexes showed an increase of mercury concentration in the urine. Even more than that, it was found that there is a strong connection between the mercury collected in the urine and the one on the amalgam surface, but they were not successful in proving that there was connection to the number of teeth amalgam was used in. To go a step further, toxicologists tested it on animals. They did not tell us what animals were used, but the results show that there is an increase of mercury in animal’s urine concentration.
Amalgam is still wildly used in dental offices, but I ask, why?. It is very likely that amalgam is very easy to work with, has a longer “life time” than a regular filling. Also, and most importantly, it is cheaper than other fillings. Our health or dental insurance is determined not to give us more than what they actually think is enough, so why not just walk around with a mouth covered in poison! The high concentration of mercury in someone’s urine due to amalgam filling does call us for an action. There is no need to wait for some side effects. If mercury is known to be toxic and detrimental, why even use it? Is the amalgam filling the answer to many cancers and genetic mutations that people get? The affirmative answer cannot be proven, yet it still remains a mystery. I certainly believe that a good dentist would never use amalgam in the dental office. I have personally met dentists like that, here in USA!
Mike
Questions and Answers:
ohearnt6 said: What exactly does mercury poisoning do to one’s body?
Mike’s answer: One of the main targets of mercury is the nervous system. The visible side effect would be “tremor”, which is a fine shacking of the hands. Later the poisoned person may end up paralyzed, or at some point in life may become mentally retarded. Another target of the mercury is the skin, which causes rash, itching, dark spots, and possible skin allergies. I read in an article where it mentioned that mercury discolors the iris of the eye. The last, but not least is the reproductive system, causing birth defects. It is scare though! I am sure there are a lot more to consider, such as kidney damage and so on. But these side effects are more visible.
zarban6 said: Have there been any long range studies done to follow people who get amalgam fillings as a child and see how that affects them in adulthood?
Mike's answer: Good question. There are some studies done, but I don’t think that I can consider them as “long range’ studies. I personally couldn't find anything like that. I think that if the long-range study would be done than amalgam would disappear a long time ago from the hands of the dentist. Why not done? It is extremely expensive especially when it comes to do studies on human beings. I am talking about not one person, but a group of people. If you were to search other journals, you will see that a lot of those studies were done on animals.
thanks for the questions and your interest in my blog,
Mike
posted by PWH @ 5:40 PM
16 comments
16 Comments:
This blog was well written and interesting to read. But here is my concern; often times things that are unhealthy are in many products we use. For example, the cosmetically used "botox" contains the botulinum toxin. This toxin is very harmful however, it is diluted so much that people inject it into their faces (among other uses)! So, in general I think we would be surprised to find out what is in some of the products we use. The thing that concerns me about your topic is that the silver filling is 50% mercury. That is a lot! So I agree with you, it seems obvious that putting so much of something we know is bad into people's mouths can't be healthy. My question is though, besides the increased levels in the urine, were there any other side effects? Also, I have never heard of this topic, is it an issue that a lot of people are worried about?
Posted by KMellman
It seems that most concern regards the release of mercury vapors. High levels of mercury in urine may not be of any concern, but it may indicate high levels of mercury elsewhere in the body. A major concern is mercury exposure to pregnant women by fish consumption. The effects of mercury exposure may not necessarily affect the individual directly, but may instead affect the fetus (possibly resulting in a disorder). Women are often advised to reduce their fish consumption during pregnancy. Mercury exposure results primarily in neurological, and endocrine problems. Perhaps researchers should test the effects of mercury fillings on the children of women who have had the dental procedure.
posted by AKE
It is interesting that while we are instructed, by our medical doctors, to avoid eating large amounts of fish that contain high concentrations of mercury (tilefish, shark, mackerel, swordfish), and not to use thermometers containing mercury, there is another type of health professional advocating for the permanent placement of mercury in our mouths. This seems as though there must be a breakdown somewhere.
The high levels of mercury found in the children's urine indicates that enough mercury was present to act in some way within the body. Perhaps mercury does not have an immediate effect, but it many be quietly altering cells or affecting genes in ways that may not be detected until these children have children of their own.
Since the amalgam fillings are less expensive than the newer version, it seems clear that those individuals with less money will be forced into using the more unsafe type of filling. Since mercury is known to be a toxin, it would make sense for dentists to abandon the amalgam fillings completely and use something that will not negatively affect our bodies.
The information you present here is definitely disturbing. Anything that is increasing the mercury concentrations in our urine, and thus our body, is probably not the best option for a cheap and lasting filling. You do a wonderful job of giving this new information a personal and important tone as you relate it to your own life experiences. We shouldn’t simply be waiting for side effects and studies to be done if there is a possibility that dentists could be poisoning the very people they are trying to help!
It would be interesting if you could find out how much mercury is actually in the filling, compared to how much is currently known to cause harm. What exactly does mercury poisoning do to one’s body? If you directly stated some of the side effects, it may make your case stronger and more alarming. Good job!
ohearnt6
I think this article is decently well written, however it is more of an opinion piece than anything else. Where is the evidence that increased levels of mercury in urine mean there is a problem? Stating this without sufficient backup, such as evidence that mercury in the urine is clearly indicative of mercury poisoning or other detrimental effects, doesn't lead anywhere. This article needs more research, either by you, or by researchers who study this sort of thing. I was reading and waiting for there to be some important point, such as that DAs cause problems for fetuses. However there doesn't appear to be much of a correlation between DAs and medical problems. Thus, your argument that "a good dentist would never use amalgam in the dental office" seems unfounded and weak.
I find your article very interesting, I never knew that silver fillings contained amalgam. I am surprised that doctors actually still use this type of filling if it is poisenous and deadly. Moreover, I agree that doctors use these fillings because it is cheaper, and does last for a longer duration. However, until this method is proven deadly, they really need to start making another filling in addition to the fillings already in use that has the same quality and price as the silver filling, but is not a health hazard.
rufoa6
while mercury levels rising is indeed an issue, that in itself does not present a large enough alarm to stop using the fillings. It really is not as detremental to our health as most people believe it to be, except in very large quantities, and the amount present in a single filling should not be enough to harm a human being. Though, since it is present, of course it will show up in the urine levels; it will not all stay in the tooth and must be excreted somehow, and urine is the simplest way for it to exit. Though it may be a concern to many, the alternatives are also too pricy for a good portion for the population, so until serious side effects begin to show up, the cheapest way is still going to be used.
paradis6
Mike,
Great post! I had certainly never thought about this before! If such a big deal was made to get thermometers and barometers containing mercury out of schools and households, why are dentists still allowed to put mercury-containing fillings in patient's mouths? It seems like getting an amalgam filling would be like waiting for a time bomb to go off-- the mercury is being released into your body a little by little, until one day you're diagnosed with cancer or your kidneys fail.
I also agree with what AKE said-- is mercury concentration in the urine the important factor, or does the danger lie in the mercury vapors?
Have there been any long range studies done to follow people who get amalgam fillings as a child and see how that affects them in adulthood? Are there any types of fillings that are being developed that could replace amalgam fillings and not cost as much? It seems like there are many questions left to be answered on this topic.
Thank you!
zarban6
That is scary to think that fillings can be harmful. Personally, I have quite a few silver feelings and have never thought to ask whether they had mercury in them. What are some side effects of an increase in mercury? Do you think that these types of fillings will be banned in the future?
First of all, this blog was well written and focused on an interesting issue. When reading it, there was one question that came to mind: how large of an increase in mercury concentration was recorded? Was the amount significant enough that it would greatly increase a person's chance or mercury poisoning? Also, I know it is difficult to find something which is completely nontoxic (even water is toxic enough in high enough concentrations), are there any cheaper metals which fillings can be made from that are less toxic?
I can relate to this blog because I, myself have silver fillings. I have always hated it only because of its appearance and also was not given a choice of different kinds of fillings. Though, I have never heard about this until now. Agreeing with kmellman, many of the products we typically use have some harmful effects on us also. Things that we may eat, cosmetic products, household items, yet we still continue to use them. Though I am in dismay that as much as 50% of mercury is in this filling! Thank you for writing this blog as it has informed me much of what has been in my mouth!
Wow that is crazy how that professionals such as Dentists would use something purposefully on their patients that is known as poison to humans. It makes me think twice about what else professionals such as Doctors are doing that is potentially dangerous to my health. Interesting article, really eye opening.
I really enjoyed reading this artice and i also thought it was well written. However i was a little alrmed reading this because i have a few silver fillings in my mouth! I am currently replacing them with the more expensive ceramic fillings, and now I feel a little better about making that choice for the extra cost. I do agree that this is a problem and I think that this article is great because it is something that i would bet alot of people do not think about, i know i didn't, thanks for the info!
I was shocked when I read this article and found out that dentists today are still using silver filings that contain mercury when it is known to have harmful side effects. In the experiments that were conducted, besides increased mercury in the urine, were there any other side effects? And are these the only two experiments that have been done or is there on going research? This is an interesting topic and has the potential to be quite controversial once more research is done.
This is a pretty frightening blog considering I have had a filling done before and didn't think twice about what it was they were using for it. Its sort of unbelievable that with all the negative things we hear about mercury and the steps we take to not ingest it (not eating too much fish, getting rid of mercury thermometers, etc) that dentists would be able to drill teeth full of the stuff. It definitely opened up my eyes to be more questioning of medical procedures from now on because you apparently be too careful. Hopefully some conclusive research will be established soon and the mercury fillings will be banned.
It is actually kind of annoying that we don’t usually hear about how harmful amalgam might be for our body. It has some good advantages for having amalgam filling, but not quite to may be risk our health in the long term. I wonder how mercury can affect our body, so we can take precautions soon.
~parekhb6
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