posted
Get this: My dentist who is removing my amalgam fillings wants to remove some perfectly good composite fillings too!
He claims that the composites are porous and absorb mercury from the neighboring fillings in the mouth.
I've read a lot about amalgam removal, but don't recall reading anything like that before.
Has anyone else?
I would imagine that teeth themselves are porous, too. Why not just pull all of the damned things and wear dentures?
Oh, I forgot, once you do that, dentists can't make any more money off of you replacing crowns and fillings.
-------------------- -chaps �Listen to the bell, Borrelia. It tolls for thee!� Posts: 631 | From A little place called, "we'll see." | Registered: Apr 2010
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Abxnomore
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posted
I'm not really sure what he is saying and I have never hear of them absorbing mercury but I do know that composites don't last nearly as long as mercury amalgams.
Could he mean that yours have worn down? I've had that happen and they had to be replaced.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
No, I made sure that I understood what he was saying and it had nothing to do with the composite filling deteriorating.
It was all about having amalgam fillings around the tooth with the composite filling and picking up mercury that the other fillings released when chewing, eating acidy foods, or hot foods.
I'm really not buyin' it, myself.
-------------------- -chaps �Listen to the bell, Borrelia. It tolls for thee!� Posts: 631 | From A little place called, "we'll see." | Registered: Apr 2010
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posted
Uh, sounds too scrupulous to me. I mean, I had one half or quadrant done at a time (can't remember which). If that were the case, once the fourth quadrant were done, I'd need to start over. NOT going to happen.
I'm not convinced the composites are 100% safe, but maybe the lesser of two evils.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
What am I missing?? If you have the amalgams removed, then there is no problem with the composites picking up anything.
What does he propose to put in there? Cement?
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Abxnomore
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posted
The composites are not 100% safe. I think they are way better than mercury buy they contain plastics and bisphenol A. Not good. The only thing that is good is a healthy tooth without any cavities.
I don't understand what the dentist is saying. Is he saying that out gasses from the mercury will be absorbed by the composite tooth?
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
I think it's time you found another dentist. There is no peer-reviewed research ANYWHERE that even remotely discusses what your dentist proposes. I personally don't like amalgam and try to talk my patients out of requesting it. Composites are safer than amalgam but also have their downsides.
Good luck to you.
Paul
Posts: 43 | From Cleveland, OH | Registered: Apr 2010
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-------------------- HERX is a Four Letter Word! Posts: 716 | From If you're going through hell, keep going......Winston Churchill | Registered: Apr 2007
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sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
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posted
I would think your whole body is absorbing the mercury, too... Got any replacement ideas for that?
Dr. K thinks people shouldn't even use public saunas or sleep next to people with mercury/silver fillings due to "outgassing" - from what I've read here & there.
Here are some links about composite fillings. I'm not sure if we are just trading one toxin for another.
Dental Products Causing Neuro-Cutaneous Syndrome (NCS) Symptoms in NCS Patients by: Omar M. Amin, BSc, MSc, PhD Published in Explore! Volume 14, Number 6, 2005
seekhelp
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
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posted
Not even sleep next to your spouse because they have fillings? OMG. That may be a bit too much for the common folk. lol.
Posts: 7545 | From The 5th Dimension - The Twilight Zone | Registered: Mar 2008
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chiquita incognita
Unregistered
posted
Hey folks Guess what, I am going to break through this with the controversial position.
Well not a position, but only an open minded question.
I think it *is* *possible*----don't know for a fact----that the mercury is absorbed by the composite fillings.
It *does* make sense to me as a possibility.
Again I don't know this for a fact, but what I would be inclined to do under the situation is to ask around from sources who I trust.
Chaps, if you weren't happy with the newbies at the place I steered you to previously, I would suggest you could certainly get a second opinion from somewhere else.
There *is* a truth too though, that any time you drill out fillings in the teeth, you also have to wear down a certain amount of tooth material to do it.
That's not good so I would want to be very conservative about this before I did it, if it was me.
But I also would want to ask for a second opinion. It can't hurt.
Then decide whether or not this is a scam.
FYI mercury can be stored in the bones, brain and nerve tissue for decades unless it is detoxified, and this would be important in followup to removing the amalgams.
However I would also want to be sure there was/is no leaky gut syndrome and no open blood-brain barrier either.
If either one is open, then we would be prone to auto-immune attack as metals are chelated from the cells.
It would be important to seal up the barriers first, then to strengthen kidney/liver function, then go ahead with detoxing the metals thereafter.
My two cents worth.
I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice, only a layperson's opinion. Ask your trusted medical personnel about this. (Mainstream docs aren't familiar with leaky gut syndrome, it's an alternative medical diagnosis. A naturopath would have to diagnose this www.naturopathic.org )
Best wishes, CI ps I am not a naturopath, don't work for any, have no investments in any of this, and no other special interests. Just a patient and have done lots of reading over the past seven years, almost daily.
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sparkle7
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posted
Well, if it's not the mercury or the composites - then, it's the radioactivity (now)... or 100 other things.
Can we really ever beat all of this toxicity? Some people get quite ill from removing the mercury/silver fillings. Drilling them out releases vapors. I think some alternative doctors are telling people to just leave them in.
I guess you have to weigh out all the options. No offence to anyone but I've had some problems with unethical dentists. Ones that called themselves "holistic", too.
With all this talk of mercury, it makes me want to have a tunafish sandwich... It's making me hungry.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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Tammy N.
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I just had my amalgams removed. I also currently have a temporary cap and onlay. Because my panoramic x-ray looked suspicious under the cap, I went for a second opinion to a highly regarded biological dentist to review everything (at significant cost). The new x-ray looked good under the tooth (it must have been an exposure issue on the original x-ray. Well, I left her office with a $10,000 estimate!! And that doesn't include putting on my permanent cap and onlay. She wanted to replace all 11 of my composite fillings (including 2 new ones from the month before). And also told me I had 4 cavitations where my wisdom teeth were (her chiropractor husband did muscle testing to determine there were cavitations, plus she did an ultra sound of some sort to confirm it....still not evidence enough for me especially when nothing showed up on the x-rays). So she wanted to do surgery on these 4 areas.... slice open, clean out, sew up and inject ozone. Hello? Very upsetting. I left paying a $550 consult fee (was quoted 450, then hit with the extra 100 for ultrasound). I'm ticked.
Posts: 2238 | From East Coast | Registered: Jul 2010
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sparkle7
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Yes, I had a similar experience Tammy N. I think these "biological" dentists can be worse than the old fashioned ones. I know other people who have gone through similar, as well.
I really don't think we need all this dental work in many cases. They just want to make money.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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posted
The thing about holistic dentists is that we want them to be nit-picky and to leave no stones unturned when it comes to our health and safety.
Then, when they become too nit-picky, we don't like it.
Are they being good and thorough, or are they exploiting our fear, capitalizing on it, and taking advantage of us?
It once again comes down to us being our own advocates, researching and making sure we're not getting fleeced.
It used to be that you had to be leery of the auto mechanic or air conditioner repair man. Now you have to be leery of doctors. So sad that it's gotten this way.
This must be the new hippocratic oath:
First, do no harm. Then screw the crap out of them!
-------------------- -chaps �Listen to the bell, Borrelia. It tolls for thee!� Posts: 631 | From A little place called, "we'll see." | Registered: Apr 2010
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posted
I know you don't like me Chaps.. but.. you said it all.
"Are they being good and thorough, or are they exploiting our fear, capitalizing on it, and taking advantage of us?"
Google resin composites, and you will find lots of info on how strong and Non-porous they are. Some are made of glass ionomers, others from nano particles that nothing can get through. 3Mespe.com, Dentsply Caulk are two companies you can look up for info on any of their composites.
That's all I'll say...
-------------------- Lyme, Babs, Fry Bug..... Whatever it is, may a treatment be discovered to make us all whole again! Posts: 941 | From AZ-MT | Registered: Oct 2004
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sparkle7
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A second opinion helps, too. I had one holistic dentist who poked me in the gums a few times with a sharp object & said I needed $1000s of dollars worth of scaling work. This was after waiting 2 or 3 hours for my appointment which he then rescheduled.
I didn't do it. The guy was a jerk & I didn't like him at all. So, some years later I went to a "regular" dentist & he told me I didn't need anything like that.
Scaling is quite painful from what I heard. I think they dig up under your gums & all... All that pain & suffering so the guy could make a buck. Who knows...? He might have been a coke head or on drugs.
He was sure acting like that. Best to be cautious. Do your research.
(Nice of you to "turn the other cheek", hadlyme...)
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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Tammy N.
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hadlyme - if someone is very highly toxic with mercury, do you then recommend them replacing with composites since something is obviously off that their body is absorbing the mercury rather than expelling it?
Do you EVER recommend composites over amalgams?
Just curious. Thanks.
Posts: 2238 | From East Coast | Registered: Jul 2010
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posted
Yes, Recommend composites over amalgams. Health wise and cosmetically wise.
As we all know, composites are, right now, the better of the two.
Scientifically I really can't say if composites will absorb mercury.. I went to some websites myself to see.. but in all my yrs of dentistry, I've never heard of composites 'absorbing' other toxins in them. But then? who knows... our training on materials are always from the manufacture stand point of strength, bonding, and durability.
-------------------- Lyme, Babs, Fry Bug..... Whatever it is, may a treatment be discovered to make us all whole again! Posts: 941 | From AZ-MT | Registered: Oct 2004
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MichaelTampa
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posted
Never heard of it either. Even if true, way higher priority is to get the mercury ones out, rather than worrying about a little of the mercury ending up in the plastic fillings.
What damage is it going to do in the plastic fillings? If some is absorbed in the plastic fillings, more will be absorbed by the rest of your body. Hopefully your body will be skilled enough to slowly remove that mercury. If mercury stays stuck in the plastic, what harm will it do? If it eventually leaves, it's just like it was a temporary detour on its way to your body.
All of the food we eat has mercury in it too. In the end, for these small items, it's all up to your body to take care of it.
Posts: 1927 | From se usa | Registered: Mar 2010
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lymeHerx001
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quote:Originally posted by Abxnomore: I'm not really sure what he is saying and I have never hear of them absorbing mercury but I do know that composites don't last nearly as long as mercury amalgams.
Could he mean that yours have worn down? I've had that happen and they had to be replaced.
Actually I know a dentist personally and the NEW composites of the past 5 years last way longer then amalgams. They bond stronger too and you dont have to take away a bunch of healthy tooth to get them to stay in a groove.
Posts: 2905 | From New England | Registered: Sep 2004
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lymeHerx001
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quote:Originally posted by sparkle7: Who knows...? He might have been a coke head or on drugs.
He was sure acting like that. Best to be cautious. Do your research.
(Nice of you to "turn the other cheek", hadlyme...)
Unfourtunatelly that is the case with professionals out there. There are comitant clean ones and also ones on drugs to work. Theres no urine test to own your own MD office. These doctors can get away with taking anything they want, and usually do.
Posts: 2905 | From New England | Registered: Sep 2004
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lymeHerx001
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quote:Originally posted by chaps: The thing about holistic dentists ...
I went to a holistic doctor before my lyme diagnosis and he charged me 100$ for 5 htp and some other amino acids. He was a crook, and when I tried to question him he became very stern and angry. Just another point to not trust everyone or anything you hear. ....
It once again comes down to us being our own advocates, researching and making sure we're not getting fleeced.
It used to be that you had to be leery of the auto mechanic or air conditioner repair man. Now you have to be leery of doctors. So sad that it's gotten this way.
This must be the new hippocratic oath:
First, do no harm. Then screw the crap out of them!
Posts: 2905 | From New England | Registered: Sep 2004
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