I am planning on having the 3 mercury fillings I have in my mouth removed. This is something that really concerns me and I feel needs to be addressed. The question I have is, has anyone had theirs removed in the past? I'm curious not just for health reasons, but cost. I know it may vary but does anyone know if this could be covered by insurance if you claim it is for health reasons? If not, what might be a ball part estimate of how costly it could be per filling.
Supposedly the worst time for getting mercury poisoning is when they put the fillings in and when the take them out. The rest of the time you can be breathing in low level vapour, and the newer the filling the more vapour it releases supposedly. Some people advise not having them out till they are ready to fall out. I'd defintely take something like Bio-selenium before and after as it might help remove mercury from your system quicker. Genuine mercury poisoning takes a long time to get rid of completely, if indeed you have that - upto several years in fact. I'd avoid things like NDF, DMSA as you can have adverse reactions to those, but with everything comes with risk.
For now you could try a way to reduce the vapour given off (again, supposedly it's the most common way we get poisoned, by breathing it in) - buy some liquid vitamin c capsules (be careful what else comes with it) and break them open, swill it round in your mouth for a couple of minutes in the morning, after chewing, drinking hot drinks and before bed. No guarantees - i'm not a doctor!
Also if your friends, family, people at work have mercury fillings - supposedly they are filling the air with vapour for you to breath, so taking your fillings out may solve a direct problem, but not an indirect one. And if you don't smoke, but you inhale other peoples smoke that's also supposed to be bad, tobacco is supposed to protect the person who is smoking from the mercury, but sends it out into the air. So smoking is good for amalgams poisoning then? Maybe those old smoking is healthy adverts weren't so wrong after all 
Usually insurance does not cover replacement of amalgam fillings because they do not deem it "medically necessary". They feel that there is no proof that the mercury in them causes health problem. (I know, *I* didn't say it...) Of course, if they are worn, loose, damaged, don't have a good seal, they may *need* to be replaced. Ask your dentist.
The thought is that the greatest exposure is during placement and removal. I believe that I read an article that suggested a rubber dam be used. A clamp is placed on the tooth and a small latex sheet (about 4" x 4") is positioned around the clamp to prevent debris from going into the mouth. It's used a lot during root canal, too, so you may be familiar with it if you've had that procedure. I think there are a few more precautions you can take, but can't recall the specifics at the moment. You could search "safe removal amalgam fillings".
Also, I would get some additional information regarding the Vit C. A lot of people discourage acidic things because they believe it contributes to the leeching of the mercury out of the amalgam.
Good luck!
Mercury in fillings is the last thing you should be worried about and here's why:
More than half a century ago, Orson Welles panicked his radio audience by reporting that Martians had invaded New Jersey. On December 23, 1990, CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" achieved a similar effect by announcing that toxins have invaded the American mouth. There was, however, a big difference. Welles' broadcast was intended to be entertaining. The "60 Minutes" broadcast, narrated by veteran reporter Morley Safer, was intended to alarmato persuade its audience that the mercury in dental fillings is a poison. It was the most irresponsible report on a health topic ever broadcast on network television.
Mercury is a component of the amalgam used for "silver" fillings. The other major ingredients are silver, tin, copper, and zinc. When mixed, these elements bond to form a strong, stable substance. The difference between bound and unbound chemicals can be illustrated by a simple analogy. Elemental hydrogen is an explosive gas. Elemental oxygen is a gas that supports combustion. When combined, however, they form water, which has neither of these effects. Amalgam's ingredients are tightly bonded to each other. Although the types of chemical bonds in water and amalgam differ, saying that amalgam will poison you is just as wrong as saying that drinking water will make you explode and burst into flames.
REST OF ARTICLE:
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelate...cs/mercury.html
I think your right to some degree, i'm not getting them taken out - they are definitely safer where they are, now they are in. It's been proved that they do give off vapour after chewing/hot drinks/inteference. Heres a link off that quakwatch page
The amount of mercury released from installed amalgam and absorbed by the body is minuscule. Mercury is found in the earth's crust and is ubiquitous in the environment. Thus, even without amalgam fillings, everyone has small but measurable blood and urine levels. Amalgam fillings may raise these levels slightly, but this has no practical or clinical significance.
I think your right to some degree, i'm not getting them taken out - they are definitely safer where they are, now they are in. It's been proved that they do give off vapour after chewing/hot drinks/inteference. Heres a link off that quakwatch page
The amount of mercury released from installed amalgam and absorbed by the body is minuscule. Mercury is found in the earth's crust and is ubiquitous in the environment. Thus, even without amalgam fillings, everyone has small but measurable blood and urine levels. Amalgam fillings may raise these levels slightly, but this has no practical or clinical significance.
What they mean is they can't attribute anything directly to being slowly poisoned at a low level for years and years. They do say that some people have a lower tolerance and react to mercury. And how much mercury did you accidentally swallow/inhale when they installed them? I'm not sure inhaling "more" mercury is something i want to do in every breath. If they had given me a choice and said, well these are cheaper and will last longer, but your breathing a tiny but "safe" amount of mercury with every breath - i might have picked something else. Who actually wants to breath more toxins than we already do??
As for the vitamin C thing, aslong as you don't overdo it you should be fine - you should probably drink some water after. Or you could use mouthmagic which has vitamin c in it to do the same thing (you just pay more for the cocktail), maybe the other things help with other oral problems - i have no idea! (and it's possible you could get a bad reaction from chlorella!)
Well yes if I could go back in time and not get the mercury fillings in the first place I would do it but now that they're in there is no practical reason to have them taken out. As the article said, the fillings might raise levels slightly but with no practical or clinical significance. I mean the minute amounts of mercury vapor that you will breathe in throughout your lifetime is extraordinarily negligible. And as another poster said, getting them put in and taken out are the most dangerous times. So I'd be willing to bet that leaving them in, and breathing that almost non existent amount, would expose you to less mercury then having them taken out would.
I do agree that it may be hazardous to have them out, as that is the point where your most at risk for ingestion. However, wouldn't it be better to get that part over with, do a heavy metal detox and then not have to worry about the possibility of long term effects or build up?
What I plan on doing in the near future is having blood work done to test the level of mercury in my system. If the content is high for some reason, I may just do that. However, if the amounts are not dangerous or even if there are less than trace amounts detected I will probably hold off for now, yet still consider having them out in the future.
I think I make have read that ingestion is not so much the issue because the absorption is much less and that breathing it in is more dangerous. Please check this info out, though, since I have not done so.
Also, I think that what is negligible to one person could greatly effect someone else. I used to work in the dental field in my early 20's and squeezed the mercury out of filling material by hand (without gloves), then vacuumed up the excess. Two HUGE no-no's (NEVER NEVER NEVER vacuum a mercury spill !!!), but I did not know any better. Of course, I also ate tuna almost everyday, too.
I do have some health problems that I believe are related to that time of my life. Now, I am careful about the fish I eat, the fish oil I take, etc. I think that heavy metals like mercury can have a cumulative effect and have to be consider seriously and carefully. I'm not one to think the sky is falling, but I wouldn't minimise this either.
Also, a friend of mine did have a mercury exposure (documented by blood work) and successfully went through chelation, but it was costly and took over a year.
Well I never knew of the dangers and recently had two old mecury fillings replaced for new white ones. It took about 45 mins for two teeth and cost A170. One was A100 as it was larger.
Personally I think metal ones look terrible and my teeth look much better. There is nothing worse than seeing someone laugh to reveal a mouth full of metal.
To reduce these costs you could look into getting a dental plan where you pay a monthly fee. Your dentists also offer interest free credit so you can get work done but not have to pay straight away. They do this as there is so much compeition and to incetivise you to go with them. Its great as it allows you to spread the cost and no further expense to yourself.
I got all mine replaced(Well I have only had 2 cavities anyway). It was covered by my insurance because the dentist said that they were worn and had to be refilled.
I wore a dental dam with some wierd covering on top of that and my nose was covered by a filter of some sort.
I got all mine replaced(Well I have only had 2 cavities anyway). It was covered by my insurance because the dentist said that they were worn and had to be refilled.
I wore a dental dam with some wierd covering on top of that and my nose was covered by a filter of some sort.
I had mine removed and trust me....it's much worse leaving them in. They constantly release mercury vapors in particular when you bite and chew.
You can do a mercury detox after you get them out.
I could *NEVER* get a handle on my candida with those things in.
I *had* to get them out because they were cracking and all that stuff.
Oh yeah...because they contract and expand with heat and cold, they do eventually crack and break your teeth.
Get 'em out, seriously. I have two crowns ($1000 out of pocket) because they cracked my teeth.
yes www.herballure.com is a forum of amalgam(mercuy based problems) I have over 13 which is my fault eating too many sweets when I was young. I beleive theiris some evidence.
I will get mine out someone soon from a holistic dentist and post any results if it was a waste of time or if their is a significant change in overall health.
I have just had some heavy metal testing, and I am very toxic with mercury, titanium, chromium and lead (the titanium is related to the amalgams apparently).
Its not only what you eat, and the amalgams you have, but also whether your parents had metal toxicity and passed it down to you. I only have one metal amalgam which I am having out on Tuesday by a really great holistic dentist.
I have had strong jaw aches, and tension through my upper jaw and into my temples for years now, and supposedly metal toxicity is the cause. Interestingly, the jawline is also where my skin gets inflammed. Fun fun and more fun. 
To get rid of metal toxicity of all kinds, you have to stay away from alcohol, wheat, sugar and large fish (ie tuna and salmon) and take chlorella for ridding the body of mercury.
Just a few facts about mercury I thought you guys might be interested in....
Pendergrass and Haley in a 1997 performed a study published in the journal Neurotoxicology. In their study, they showed concentrations of mercury vapor, known to be released by dental amalgams in people, increased mercury concentrations in rat brains from 11- to 47-fold higher than controls. At this level, the mercury produced the identical lesions seen in Alzheimeras disease (neurofibrillary tangles) by interfering with normal tubulin maintenance.
"There is no safe level of mercury, and no one has actually shown that there is a safe level. I would say mercury is a very toxic substance" ~ Dr Lars Friberg, Former Chief Adviser to the World Health Organization on Mercury safety.
"If they have as few as 4 amalgam fillings present in their mouth, the average person's saliva is so high in mercury they cannot legally spit into the toilet. Their saliva exceeds the EPA maximum legal municipal discharge standard for mercury" ~ David Kennedy D.D.S.
Bacteria and Yeast
When people have mercury amalgams or just has elevated mercury in their body, the friendly bacteria (probiotics) will convert the mercury into methyl mercury, which is at least 100 times more toxic than ordinary mercury. Research shows that oral bacteria, yeast and probiotics all methylate mercury, so you should minimize any contact between the bacteria and your mercury. The methylation of mercury could explain some of the adverse reactions reported by parents and patients who have begun detox with massive doses of probiotics to correct dysbiosis.
Dysbiosis is a pressing problem, but the production of large amounts of methyl mercury is much worse. Methyl mercury exacerbates damage to the nervous system and even further promotes dysbiosis by further compromising the intestinal immune system. One theory holds that the body deliberately builds up the population of candia as a coping strategy to deal with the heavy metal poisoning. The body actually fosters the presence of candida in a heavy metal toxic patient because the cell walls of the candida binds up the mercury and other toxic metals, providing a measure of relief. If the candida cell walls are destroyed, the cell walls release their toxic metals back into the system, causing symptoms. This release of heavy metals is possibly one explantion of Herxheimer's reaction, in which the patient feels more ill, and even more toxic, after the candida is attacked and killed. By using NDF (Nanocolloidal Detox Factors), an oral detox supplement, containing cell wall broken probiotics, the bacteriocins from the probiotics drive pathogenic bacteria and yeast away from their territory without breaking their cell walls. This competitive exclusion effect is safer than breaking the cells of the candida.
Mercury may kill the bacteria, but the ones that are stronger undergo pleomorphic change and become more resistant to mercury. These altered intestinal bacteria almost digest your food properly, but not quite. The resultant almost digested proteins are absorbed into the bloodstream. But, while almost the right shape and form, they do not fool the immune system. The immune system sees these undigested proteins as foreign protein and immediately sets up an antigen/antibody reaction, creating an allergic reaction. This is often how food allergies are created. Mercury can turn every meal into an immune challenge instead of the nutritional boost it is supposed to be. Altered bacteria also encourage the rotting of proteins (called putrefaction). Putrefaction of proteins results in the production of more toxins interfering with the actual absorptive mechanism from the intestinal lining.
As a result of these injuries, the selective absorption of the intestinal tract is impaired, allowing seepage of partially processed foods through the lining into the body itself. The lymphatic drainage system picks these up and places them in the blood. Leaky gut syndrome is one of the labels applied to this situation. There is another connection with root canal filled teeth and digestive problems. The common denominator appears to be toxic immune damage from toxins found in the periodontal ligament surrounding the root canal tooth. These toxins are formed within the root structure of the tooth itself, regardless of what is used to fill the root canal. Once formed, they migrate to the outside of the root, to the interphase between bone and teeth. When one bites down, as during chewing, a few molecules of the toxins are forced up the root surface into the mouth. From the mouth, toxins are mixed with saliva and foods and swallowed into the stomach and intestinal tract. These toxins are unaffected by acids and enzymes in the stomach. There is nothing known in biochemistry or toxicology that is as toxic per volume as root canal generated toxins. It only takes microminute amounts of these acute dentally associated toxins only a minute or two to inactivate many of the body's most critical enzymes. The first layer of cells in the intestine in contact with the food is called the epithelium. These epithelial cells contain glycolytic enzymes that are critical in the production of trypsin, chymotrypsin, and pepsin--digestive enzymes.
As toxins from root canal teeth are released into the saliva, they mix with other components of the saliva, one of which will be mercury if there are any silver mercury amalgam filings in the teeth. In addition to root canal toxins, several other toxic chemicals are produced simultaneously in the periodontal ligament space. Among these are hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan. As this team of chemicals is exposed to mercury, an immediate reaction occurs between them and a new "dual" toxin is formed that can easily enter the epithelial cells of the intestinal tract, inhibiting the production of trypsin, chymotrypsin, and pepsin that are necessary for complete digestion. This leads to chronic constipation, etc. The most significant factor to good digestion is thorough chewing of food, but chewing can trigger the release of these vicious toxins--and if you don't chew your food well, it will ferment and putrefy.
Hormones
The affinity of mercury for the pituitary gland was first identified by Stock in 1940. Autopsy studies in 1975 revealed that, contrary to accepted belief that the kidney was the prime accumulator of inorganic mercury, the thyroid and pituitary retain and accumulate more inorganic mercury than the kidneys. It has been well documented that mercury is an endocrine system disrupting chemical in animals and people, disrupting function of the pituitary gland, thyroid gland, enzyme production processes, and many hormonal functions at low levels of exposure.
People with high mercury levels in their bodies have more hormonal disturbances, immune disturbances, recurring fungal infections, hair loss and allergies. Very few periodontists or dentists recognize amalgam mercury as an etiological (causing) factor in the development of periodontal disease. Hormones that are most often affected by mercury are thyroid, insulin, estrogen, testosterone, both anterior and posterior pituitary, and adrenaline. Almost all hormones have binding sights capable of connecting to metabolic cofactors, but mercury can bind here, too. Mercury frequently has a stronger affinity for these binding sites than the normal activators; even though the hormone is present in the bloodstream, it may not be able to act as it is supposed to act.
Mercury (especially mercury vapor or organic mercury) rapidly crosses the blood-brain barrier and is stored preferentially in the pituitary gland, thyroid gland, hypothalamus, and occipital cortex in direct proportion to the number and extent of dental amalgam surfaces. Mercury, through its affects on the endocrine system, is documented to cause other reproductive problems including infertility, low sperm counts, abnormal sperm, endometritis, PMS, adverse effects on reproductive organs, etc. In general, immune activation from toxins such as heavy metals, resulting in cytokine release and abnormalities of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, can cause changes in the brain, fatigue, and severe psychological symptoms such as depression, profound fatigue, muscular-skeletal pain, sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal and neurological problems as are seen in CFS, fibromyalgia, and autoimmune thyroiditis. Symptoms usually improve significantly after amalgam removal. A direct mechanism involving mercury's inhibition of hormones and cellular enzymatic processes by binding with the hydroxyl radical (SH) in amino acids, appears to be a major part of the connection to allergic/immune reactive/autoimmune conditions such as autism/ADHD, schizophrenia, lupus, scleroderma, eczema, psoriasis and allergies.
Mercury inhibits the activity of dipeptyl peptidase (DPP IV) which is required in the digestion of the milk protein casein as well as xanthine oxidase. Studies involving a large sample of autistic and schizophrenic patients found that over 90% of those tested had high levels of the neurotoxic milk protein beta-casomorphine-7 in their blood and urine and defective enzymatic processes for digesting milk protein. Elimination of milk products from the diet improves the condition. ADHD populations have high levels of mercury and recover after mercury detoxification. As mercury levels are reduced, the protein binding is reduced and improvement in the enzymatic process occurs. Additional cellular level enzymatic effects of mercury binding with proteins include blockage of sulfur oxidation processes, enzymatic processes involving vitamins B6 and B12, effects on cytochrome-C energy processes, along with mercury's adverse effects on mineral levels of calcium, magnesium, zinc, and lithium
Adrenal Glands
Mercury accumulates in the adrenal glands and disrupts adrenal gland function. During stress, the adrenal glands increase in size as a normal reaction in order to produce more steroids (hormones). Both physical and physiological stress will stimulate the adrenal glands. The outer shell of the adrenal gland is called the cortex, and the inner core of the gland is called the medulla. The cortex produces three types of steroids called glucocorticoids. Cortisone is a corticoid essential to life and functions to maintain stress reactions. Mineral corticoids, such as aldosterone, regulate the balance of blood electrolytes and also cause the kidneys to retain sodium and excrete potassium and hydrogen. Mineral corticoids are also involved in gluconeogenesis, which is the process whereby your body converts glycogen to glucose (blood sugar).
Small amounts of corticoid sex hormones, both male and female, are also produced by the adrenal cortex. Two primary nutrients for the adrenal glands are pantothenic acid and vitamin C. A deficiency of pantothenic acid can lead to adrenal exhaustion (chronic fatigue) and ultimately to destruction of the adrenal glands. A deficiency of pantothenic acid also causes a progressive fall in the level of adrenal hormones produced. One of the largest tissue stores of vitamin C is the adrenals; it is exceeded only by the level of vitamin C in the pituitary. Physical and mental stress increase the excretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from the pituitary, which is the hormone that tells the adrenals to increase their activity. The increased adrenal activity, in turn, depletes both vitamin C and pantothenic acid from the glands.
Humans cannot produce vitamin C. They therefor attempt to replenish the needs of the adrenals by taking the vitamin from other storage locations in the body. If your overall ascorbate status is low, there may be an insufficient amount available to satisfy the needs of the adrenals. Under this condition, normal adrenal hormone response may become inadequate, leading to an inadequate immune function. Mercury builds up in the pituitary gland and depletes the adrenals of both pantothenic acid and vitamin C. Stress and the presence of mercury will have a very negative effect on the adrenal production of critical steroids. The ability of the adrenal gland to produce steroids is called steroidogenesis and is dependent upon reactions mediated by the enzyme cytochrome P-450. Cytochrome P-450 reacts with cholesterol to produce pregnenolone, which is then converted to progesterone. Cytochrome P-450 can then convert progesterone to deoxycorticosterone which is then converted to corticosterone or aldosterone by other enzymes in the adrenals. These adrenal functions are also affected by metal ions.
I have started on a chelation program for the mercury - taking selenium, Vitamin E, charcoal at the moment, and getting my amalgams removed today.
Something my dentist said which you might like to know is that if you wear earrings, and are getting cysts/nodules near the ears, its a sure sign of metal toxicity. Also, mercury mixes with something (the dentist told my brother and I have forgotten what it is) which leads to hypoglycemia.
I will keep you guys updated if I learn any more about this - but I thought you might like to read this: http://www.mercurylife.com/mercurylife/mer...sics/index.html
And this: http://mercurytalk.com/wiki/index.php/What...ury_Does_To_You