This is a bit of a hodgepodge so grab a drink and relax....;-)

I had my Amalgams removed this last year at a price of $600 over a 3 week period, 1 quadrant per week with 2 quadrants (1 was a single filling) done the 3rd week. I kept my two gold crowns. I did not have the single root canal I have, "redone".

For years I've pondered over how much is real and false about Amalgams.

I've read quite a bit, cavitations, mercury poisoning, symptoms suddenly disappearing after removal, battery effects, the dangers of removal. The expense of having it "properly" done.

Over the last week I've had contact with 3 people who have help solidify my understanding. Two had their Amalgams removed by a dentist who's been doing it for 3 decades, they paid respectively $8k and $14k. The other was my dentist who gave me his unbiased opinion.

So my breakdown is this.

There are millions of people with amalgams, for the majority, while there are no apparent health problems, having any metal in the body causes a low level stress condition. If you have other health problems it's harder to deal with them if your body has a constant stress load from the metal in your mouth.

For some the stress load is huge and actually causes physical symptoms as well as aggravation of any other health problems as the body is using up resources to take care of whatever problems the mouth is generating. While small amounts can be tolerated over time the body can be poisoned by accumulation in critical areas, or simply overall body loading both forms are caused by the material being leeched from the filling.

While people want a it's GOOD or it's BAD sort of answer the reality is for most people their body can easily handle the stress load of being poison by teeth fillings. However, as we age we may eventually need that overhead of stress that the mouth uses up. And as we'll find out, things may get far worse as we age.

While people want a definitive "mercury is poison" therefore "amalgams are poison". To look at it in that respect fails to acknowledge that millions of people have Amalgams yet do not have "serious" health problems.

So what gives?

Amalgams done properly using non-inferior products in healthy people may take decades before the body becomes (due to buildup) allergic to metal. A good example of this is the woman who became allergic to her jewelry fairly early in life, in this case silver and nickel based. She added to the Amalgam stress loading. She could have lasted years longer but the combination of the two was too much.

Guess what? I agree that mercury and amalgams are poison. The failure however is most people are unaware how much our bodies detox on a daily basis.

So how do we define definitive guidelines? How do we deal with the reality of how much harm is being done vs. how much money can I afford to spend on my health?

You guess and take your best shot.

I'm healthy, I have no allergies. I have a dentist who I find amazing in the quality of workmanship. He uses only the best of materials. He does not have a spit bowl. As he drills a constant stream of water prevents "dust" from rising. The assistant uses a suction device to siphon the water as well. So did I swallow some, did I breath some? How could I not? This was the "hit" I felt I could take and minimize using the SWF (Salt-Water-Flush) and ex-creaters for metal detox.

Did I check for ceramic sensitivity? No, as I'm aware that few people have true allergies. They have other problems that allow allergies. They have no overhead to handle poisonings. But my dentist wouldn't use anything he himself wouldn't believe to be the least harmful to himself and his patients.

Any good dentist no longer uses amalgams. My dentist has used amalgams twice in the last ten years. Both were special cases where it involved saving a tooth that required the slightly different properties between ceramics and amalgams.

He also told why (his opinion which I agree with) the ADA still promotes amalgams. The fear of the cigarette type lawsuits.

He believes over the next ten years or so they will phase out amalgams as an outdated method. Ceramics are simply better looking and "just" as good if not better.

At no time will they acknowledge that amalgams are poison and have caused many serious health problems.

At dental school the instructor told them not to handle the Amalgam material without gloves as it was "unhealthy" to do so. My dentist made the mistake of raising his hand and asking why were we putting it in the mouth if it was dangerous to merely handle.

They kept him after class and had a little chat about his attitude and the proper way to view things.

The ADA came to school so graduating students could join. He joined but it was the only year he belonged to the organization. While he didn't say so, I got the impression it might have been a mistake for his career not to join (or in this case his graduation), due to his earlier observed "attitude".

He doesn't use nickel in his practice. He sees inflammation at the gum line when nickel is used.

He didn't think to connect this to dissimilar metals. So my belief on this is you may not see the inflammation if you only have nickel. It may be the battery effect of dissimilar metals that cause the inflammation. I say this so we don't have someone go "Oh! I have nickel and no inflammation!".

Both of the people who had their amalgams removed did at times taste metal. Both showed a cell voltage in certain areas of the mouth. This voltage disappeared with Amalgam removal. (Both by the way are old enough that nickel was used early on)

If you taste metal in your mouth from time to time, were you eating or drinking something acidic? A battery is dissimilar metals with an acid to allow current flow. This flow would involve metal ions which you could taste. (Something like a plating effect where metal is robbed from one electrode and plated on another. Unfortunately in this case it's getting buried in your tissues.)

The man didn't realize till the next day, that a rather constant pain in the neck that had bothered him for a decade was no longer there.

This sounds like the battery effect was messing with a meridian line or simply constant metal poisoning of a lymphatic drainage line perhaps? Who knows? I don't.

Bottom line for him was, no metal in the mouth, long time neck pain, gone. Wow!

The money you spend is to prevent being "poisoned" by the metal being removed. Even though he paid $8K he still swallowed some "bad" stuff. How did that happen? He couldn't handle the "dam". It caused him to choke so it couldn't be used.

So breaking it down:

1. If you have the money, get those damn amalgams out with someone who does it properly. Are you sick? Then check for ceramic sensitivity.

2. If you are really sick, I don't think you have a choice. Cavitations may be a possibility. A specialist is required.

3. Never use nickel. (It's still used out of country)

4. Metal or metallic taste from time to time, should be construed as a very dangerous situation that you need to take care of immediately.

5. Gums have gray color? Or inflamed around a filling or nickel crown? You have serious problems.

6. Should you be healthy with NO allergies and want to roll the dice?

Read up on metal detox. That should scare you enough not to do it.

So why did I do it this way? And if I believe the body can handle it, why do it?

Gimme a break, any metal accumulation is bad over time.

As I age, I'll need the added overhead removing the metal stress loading uses.

Something I didn't mention above, you constantly roll the dice as to where the metal may relocate. Playing Russian roulette isn't my style.

And finally, one of my fall back positions is chelation therapy. I do not want a bunch of anagrams should I decide to do this.


To Your Great Health.

Savagegrace