Are Dental Amalgams (mercury fillings) Safe in Your Mouth?
What are dental amalgams?
A dental amalgam is a dental filling material used to fill cavities. these are made of approximately 50% metallic mercury mixed with an alloy (mostly silver, tin and copper)
In your mouth, they look like metallic grey fillings (white fillings do not contain mercury).
THE Problem
We know that small amounts of elemental mercury vapor are continuously released from these amalgam fillings. This release is stimulated by chewing, tooth brushing and/or bruxism (grinding the teeth). Mercury will be released continuously, for as long as the filling is in the tooth.
The mercury released is inhaled and absorbed by your body and distributed to tissues and results in elevated concentrations of mercury in blood, plasma, urine and even the brain, thyroid and pituitary glands.
The type of mercury released by a dental amalgam is not the same mercury as that which is absorbed through eating fish, though. There are two types of mercury: organic ( common source: some fish have methylmercury, a type of organic mercury. ) and elemental ( common source: dental amalgams) . If you ever test for mercury it is usually organic mercury you are testing for…. inorganic is quickly absorbed and stored in our tissues and can actually go undetected by most testing.
How much mercury is released by a dental amalgam?
While organizations like the FDA, the American Dental Association and the WHO agree that the amount of mercury released by dental amalgams is small, one study looked at individuals with and without amalgam fillings that were injected with a heavy metal chelating agent (this is something that basically grabs the heavy metals and removes it from your body). Those with amalgam fillings excreted about three times more mercury than those without.
What are the effects?
Even though mercury has been used in dental fillings for over 150 years - there are actually not that many clinical studies that look into the effects of low level but constant mercury vapour release at low levels, or of disease prevalence in amalgam-bearers compared to people without amalgam. This is why, as I mentioned previously, these dental amalgams are generally considered safe by the FDA, WHO and ADA. However there ARE smaller studies that do show links with harmful health effects.
Some people are more susceptible to this increase in mercury, while others are not. Why some seem to be more sensitive to mercury is unclear (perhaps in part due to the fact that some of us are genetically predisposed to detoxify better that others) but what is clear is that mercury is a well documented harmful heavy metal that will cross the blood brain barrier and placenta and negative health effects seem to be more common that many would think. Including:
Sometimes subtle- sometimes aggravated side effects including: tiredness, headaches, pain from muscles and joints, and problems with short term memory and concentration. According to some studies in some people these effects actually decrease or even disappear after amalgam removal.
Among the concerns for pregnant women comes from a study that looked at mothers of 94 autistic children had statistically more amalgam fillings during pregnancy than 49 mothers of healthy kids. (vi)
Long term effects? It just isn’t well studied but some researchers have found examples which may be consistent with an association between cumulative amalgam exposure and some neurological diagnoses (including Alzheimers however more larger scaled studies are needed) and autoimmune diseases
What we do know is that removing mercury fillings, significantly reduced plasma and urinary mercury levels to 50% and 25% respectively , of the initial values pre removal (for about a month immediately following removal, blood mercury levels actually rose three- to four-fold, whereas urinary mercury rose about 50%… but these peak values declined to the preremoval level at about 1 month and then continued to decline). In some people this was enough to see improvements in health: In one study, 71 percent of people with autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis, improved after amalgam removal.
If you suspect you are sensitive to mercury or just want to remove mercury from your mouth- the good news is that you can safely do it….
So, how can you safely remove a Dental Amalgam?
Dental mercury amalgams expose dental professionals, dental staff, dental patients, and/or fetuses to releases of mercury vapor, mercury-containing particulate, and/or other forms of mercury contamination so it is REALLY important to find a trained dentist that has experience and follows IAOMT safe amalgam removal protocol recommendation. This includes:
constant water irrigation
high volume suction
installation of a amalgam separator
Each room where mercury fillings are removed must have a high-volume air filtration system capable of removing mercury vapor and amalgam particles generated during the removal
Face shields, hair/head coverings and protective clothes are to be utilized by the dentist and all dental personnel in the room (protective clothes for patient too)
Use of a properly-sealed, respiratory grade mask rated to capture mercury or a positive pressure, properly-sealed mask providing air or oxygen must be worn by the dentist and all dental personnel in the room.
In order to protect the patient’s skin and clothing, a full body, impermeable barrier, as well as a full head/face/neck barrier under/around the dam, need to be utilized.
External air or oxygen delivered via a nasal mask for the patient
A dental dam must be placed and properly sealed in the patient’s mouth.
A saliva ejector must be placed under the dental dam to reduce mercury exposure to the patient.
Once the removal process is complete, the patient’s mouth should be thoroughly flushed with water77, 80 and then rinsed out with a slurry of charcoal, chlorella or similar adsorbent.
Additionally it is important to talk to your dentist: you want to make sure the tooth structure will not be jeopardized if a mercury filling is removed.
How to help your body detoxify from mercury removal
If you are having a dental amalgam removed talk to your doctor about taking chelators, that bind to mercury in your body and help it to exit your body
Common options include: glutathione, charcoal or chlorella, and/or other well known chelators.
My dentist recommended Mer Protect protocol designed by Quicksilver Scientific , a 2 step protocol (that taste terrible!) that includes: “AmalgaClear® – Contains IMD®, our proprietary metal binder (uses thiol-functionalized silica) , as well as bentonite clay. Because binders may clog the GI tract, we add soothing, fluidizing prebiotic acacia gum” and Glutathione Complex® – Enhance the detoxifying properties of our bestselling liposomal glutathione with three key elements in one: Glutathione, the “master detoxifier,” a full complex of energizing B vitamins, and the liver supportive herb, milk thistle.*
These should be taken a couple of days before removal, on the day of removal and a couple of days after.
Different specialist have different methods and how much and what your protocol will be might also be influenced by how many dental amalgams need to be removed. Make sure you work with a holistic dentist and/or functional medicine doctor: DO NOT try to detoxify from mercury without a doctor’s supervision and do not go to a dentist that is not trained in the proper safe removal of amalgam fillings!
FINALLY: If they are so bad, why re they still being used?
Generally it is because mainstream science does not feel there is enough evidence to prove that the low levels of mercury released from dental amalgams are truly harmful.
According to the American Dental Association:
"FDA has reviewed the best available scientific evidence to determine whether the low levels of mercury vapor associated with dental amalgam fillings are a cause for concern. Based on this evidence, FDA considers dental amalgam fillings safe for adults and children ages 6 and above.”
“Dental amalgam is considered a safe, affordable and durable material that has been used to restore the teeth of more than 100 million Americans. It contains a mixture of metals such as silver, copper and tin, in addition to mercury, which binds these components into a hard, stable and safe substance. Dental amalgam has been studied and reviewed extensively, and has established a record of safety and effectiveness….the small amount of mercury released from amalgam restorations, especially during placement and removal, has not been shown to cause any … adverse health effects.”
What is a bit contradictory is that according to the EPA (epa.gov )
“Is the amalgam collected in the separator considered a hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)? Yes. The amalgam collected in a separator is likely to be a hazardous waste under RCRA due to the mercury and silver content of the amalgam”
So while the American Dental Association and FDA says it is safe to use mercury or silver fillings…. the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers old mercury fillings that have been removed from the body to be hazardous waste that has to be disposed as such.
As Dr. Mark Hyman puts it: “Let me put this another way. It’s apparently all right to put mercury fillings in your mouth — but not to throw them out in the garbage!”
NOTE: The FDA goes on to say
“Although the available evidence does not show that exposure to mercury from dental amalgam will lead to adverse health effects in the general population, exposure to mercury may pose a greater health risk in the groups of people listed below, who may be more susceptible to potential adverse effects generally associated with mercury.
Pregnant women and their developing fetuses;
Women who are planning to become pregnant;
Nursing women and their newborns and infants;
Children, especially those younger than six years of age;
People with pre-existing neurological disease;
People with impaired kidney function;
People with known heightened sensitivity (allergy) to mercury or other components (silver, copper, tin) of dental amalgam.
Sources
Powers J, Sakaguchi R. Amalgam. In: Powers J, Sakaguchi R, editors. Craig's restorative dental materials. 12th edn. St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier; 2006. pp. 235–267.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3476590/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2212208/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/00016359009005875
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2098763/
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00220345000790031401
https://iaomt.org/resources/safe-removal-amalgam-fillings/
https://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/alt_formats/hpfb-dgpsa/pdf/md-im/dent_amalgam-eng.pdf
Prochazkova, J., et al. The beneficial effect of amalgam replacement on health in patients with autoimmunity. Neuroendocrinology Letters. 2004; 25(3): 211-218.
Holmes, A.S., et al. Reduced levels of mercury in first baby haircuts of autistic children. International Journal of Toxicology. 2003. 22(4): 277-285.
https://www.ada.org/en/press-room/press-kits/dental-fillings-press-kit/dental-amalgam-what-others-say#:~:text=%22FDA%20has%20reviewed%20the%20best,children%20ages%206%20and%20above.