I am a mom, (not a scientist) with a decision to make. My 6 year old
daughter has 2 cavities! What to fill them with? I didn't anticipate the
volumes of articles, web sites, faqs pro and con amalgam. As I get set to
do some reading, I wonder if there is a real answer or if this is just
another of those "modern life" dilemmas.

SWF DDS

Don't let him put amalgam on her teeths. Pay a little more for
another material like composites.

Amalgam seem to last longer, but.. is it worth our health?...

Amalgam IS a poison. It contain 50% mercury which is extremely toxic.
It goes to the brain, and every part of the body. It accumulate.

Rick

To learn more about the Amalgam safety issue (or lack of) visit:-
  http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pcsol
This provides a wide range of information, and also links to
other important sources - The Amalgam FAQ, The BBC Panorama
program summary, the IAOMT homepage, Dr Vimys page, etc.

  EFFECTS OF SWALLOWING A LARGE AMALGAM FILLING (as experienced by the
  author while a high school senior in 1982):

    FIRST EFFECTS (minutes/hours later):
    - exaggerated intensity of heartbeat/audibility of pulse (intermittent)
    - ringing in ears/hearing difficulty (intermittent)
    - metallic taste
    - excessive salivation/colored saliva (light black tint)
    - belching with metallic taste (intermittent)

    LATER EFFECTS (days later):
    - chronic headache
    - insomnia
    - inability to recall basic information (familiar things don't "click")
    - breathing spasms (intermittent)
    - vomiting (intermittent)
    - mild diarrhea (intermittent)
    - loss of appetite
    - urinary retention

    LATER EFFECTS (weeks/months later):
    - darkened gums and lining of mouth
    - dazed look/glassy eyes
    - disorientation/loss of intellect
    - spaciness/obssessive, uncontrollable, repetitive thoughts
    - isolation/inability to communicate
    - speech, visual, hearing impairment
    - sluggishness in walking
    - slight tremors (intermittent)
    - chills
    - anorexia (from 140 to 95 lbs.)

    LONG-TERM EFFECTS (years later -- MOSTLY subside in 12-15 years):
    - sensitivities (food and chemical)
    - insomnia, sleeping late, then awakening fatigued
    - loss of confidence/inappropriate responses in social situations

  The ADA has managed to keep secret their witches'-brew recipe for poisonous
amalgam for so long that it took me two years just to find it out for myself.
And it was another four years (1988-9) before I finally sorted the Truth
from the ADA propaganda and ran out to have my amalgam fillings replaced with
non-poisonous ones.

  Swallowing amalgam made me so grievously ill for so much of the time (at
one time or another, I exhibited most of the 102 effects of mercury listed
in CHRONIC MERCURY TOXICITY:  A GUIDE FOR THE DOCTOR/PATIENT, by Queen),
that it took me 14 years just to get a B.S. degree, and I was unable to hold
a steady job for the entire time.  And speaking of B.S., that's exactly how
to describe any claims of amalgam "safety":  amalgam is deadly poisonous,
and completely unsuitable for use in the general population.  Any dental
"professional" who tells you otherwise is simply unable to grasp the concept
that poison does *not* belong in a person's mouth.  PERIOD.

  Just to let you know that I'm not putting you on, trying to sell you some-
thing, or trying to scare you, either go to a good university library or use
an on-line catalogue such as the OCLC and discover the same disturbing
references that I did:

   (i)   Proof that mercury vapor escapes from "silver" tooth fillings:

          J.E. Abraham, et. al., "The Effect of Dental Amalgam Restorations
         on {*filter*} Mercury Levels", J. DENT. RES., 63:71-73 (1984).

          D. Brune and D.M. Evje, "Man's Mercury Loading from a Dental
         Amalgam", THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, 44:51-63 (1985).

          M.J. Vimy and F.L. Lorscheider, "Serial Measurements of Intra-{*filter*}
         Air Mercury:  Estimation of Daily Dose from Dental Amalgam", J.
         DENT. RES., 64(8):1072-1075 (August, 1985).

  (ii)   Proof that dentists have been permanently harmed from handling
        "silver" tooth fillings:

          ARCH. NEUROL., 33:788-790 (Nov., 1976) -- dentist suffers senility,
         emotional instability, depression, and loss of direction sense in
         lower extremities after having a history of handling amalgam

          CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING NEWS (2/8/71) -- a dental assistant is
         found to have grievously high amounts of mercury in her kidneys.
         (The results were found upon autopsy).  Although the author, a
         British chemist, tries to downplay this disturbing finding, the
         dental assistant's body mercury levels were clearly high enough to
         have been the cause of her untimely death

 (iii)   Proof that patients have been permanently harmed from wearing
        "silver" tooth fillings:

          Just check out the disturbing periodical titles which appear near
         the beginning of Huggins' strangely written book IT'S ALL IN YOUR
         HEAD (Huggins Diagnostic Center, 1985).  Titles like "Acute Mania
         Attributed to Amalgam Filling", "Death From Swallowing Large Amal-
         gam Filling", and a dozen more disturbing titles.  (Unfortunately,
         Huggins does not give the exact references [I did say it is a
         strangely written book];  however, the exact names of the period-
         icals did appear in a series of DAMS newsletters around 1990.
         Many of the Huggins articles are quite old, and date to circa 1880,
         when the American College of Dental Surgeons found long and hard
         *against* the use of amalgam.  Unfortunately, the ADA "won" the
         debate -- and the American people have lost).

  (iv)   For your further enlightenment:

          http://www.***.com/ ~trufax/reports/merceff.html
          http://www.***.com/ ~daveq/amalgam.htm
          http://www.***.com/ ~bosse/MercuryPage.html
          http://www.***.com/
          http://www.***.com/ ~leif/AmFAQigr.htm
          http://www.***.com/
          http://www.***.com/
          http://www.***.com/
          http://www.***.com/
          http://www.***.com/
          http://www.***.com/ ~mapgieb
          http://www.***.com/ ~mapgieb/amal2.zip
          http://www.***.com/
          http://www.***.com/
          http://www.***.com/
          http://www.***.com/
          http://www.***.com/

  Sure, no dental material is completely safe:  allergy to *any* alternative
material is possible, and you could {*filter*}on any dental material and die.
But in the case of deadly amalgam, there are many nontoxic alternatives out
there (and although many of them are not as durable as amalgam, the simple
fact that most dentists conveniently leave out is that some of the alternative
materials *are* as durable as amalgam -- and none are as poisonous).  In fact,
any *competent* dentist will make use of a biocompatibility (allergy) testing
service to see whether or not a dental material is suitable *before* placing
it in your mouth.  (And all traces of *any* unsuitable material -- not just
amalgam -- can be notoriously difficult to remove, so choose your new dental
material *carefully*!  In 1988, I was shown a list of 120 brand names to
choose from;  but I suspected allergy to the new material, and in 1991-2 had
to have all of them all replaced (again!) -- this time with a brand-name
called CONQUEST.  (N.B., This must *not* be considered an endor{*filter*}t:  what
is suitable for me may be completely unsuitable for you).

  Oh, BTW, I found out later that I wasn't allergic to the new material at
all -- I was allergic to the fluoride treatments that the first dentist was
using (but that's another story...)

  So, that's about all that *I* have to say about amalgam.

  If, OTOH, you see nothing wrong with exposing your six-year-old daughter
to a proven poison which attaches itself to the {*filter*} cells, interferes
with the functions of the glands, has potentially vicious effects upon the
lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys, depresses the immune system, and acts as
a poison for the nervous system and the brain, and that this is just another
"'modern-life' dilemma" that your child has to live with -- well, then I guess
amalgam is for you.

                                                                -- MF

  Before you run out and have your amalgams replaced, though, *please* be
sure to find a dentist who knows how to do it properly.  The second dentist
which I went to had quite a few horror stories about some of his patients
who had their amalgams "replaced" -- only to find by X-ray that whereas the
top 50 percent of each amalgam was actually replaced, the other 50 percent
of the poison was still there.  (During my second round of amalgam replacement
in '91-2, right in the middle of a session the dentist ran out to fetch his
assistant to show her how much amalgam was still under one of my "replacement"
fillings).  According to my dentist, the so-called "dentists" at shopping
malls are the worst offenders in this regard, and are to be avoided at all
costs (although the first dentist who bungled my work was a "standard"
dentist in private practice).

  Also be sure that the dentist who does the amalgam removal makes use of a
{*filter*} dam (basically, he/she puts the equivalent of a {*filter*} shower cap in
your mouth before drilling).  Maybe you've already read the story of Earl
Talevich on this ng, who suffered the same "terrible neural" symptoms that
I did after one of his large amalgam fillings was drilled out.  A large
amalgam filling weighs 800 to 1200 mg according to Huggins, and therefore
contains 400 to 600 mg of poisonous mercury.  Swallowing only 100 mg of Hg
is sufficient to cause the signs of acute mercury poisoning (unusual timidity,
decline of intellect), and 500 mg of Hg is always fatal unless immediate
treatment is given (THE NUTRITION ALMANAC, McGraw-Hill, 1996, p.125).  These
figures translate into 200 mg of amalgam (or 1/4 of a large filling) and
1000 mg of amalgam, respectively.  These figures should be kept carefully
in mind during every second of the drilling process.  (I estimate that the
large amalgam filling which I swallowed in 1982 was very nearly 1000 mg).

  Finally, be a patient patient.  My amalgams were replaced only two at a
time on each visit, and I had 23 of them.  Each visit was scheduled five to
six weeks apart, so the total replacement took close to a year and a half.
(Plus, remember that I had this done *twice*).

  And *please* remember my previous POST about the importance of using a
suitable replacement material.  Using an amalgam replacement material to
which you are definitely allergic could put you in a much worse situation
than before!

  I'm pretty sure that one of the websites that I posted is a list of
professional referrals, who are obviously much more qualified than I am
where your health is concerned.

  Good luck!

                                                              -- MF

Bruce Howell

Dentists are not required to inform their patient of the mercury content of
the filling material and if they recommend a different material for health
reasons, they are blasted by the ADA for beind 'unethical'.

The statements the ADA makes are based on faulty reasoning, invalid
research techniques, and outright lies. I have heard many statements from
dentists that are often just plain wrong. Its time the ADA and the dental
industry owned up to its mistake and voluntarilly phased mercury amalgam
fillings out.

Don't get amalgam fillings. If your dentist claims that the mercury in your
fillings is safe, its time for a new dentist. Apparantly, the only 'safe'
place to store mercury is in your mouth. At least this is what the ADA
wants you to believe. More often than not, if you see an article about the
problems with mercury in a dental journal or web site, they are more
concerned about the dentists exposure than the patients.

SWF DDS

Dec. 1993 The State of California passes new legislation. All Californian
dentists who use Dental Amalgam must post the following warning clearly in
their dental surgeries. All Amalgam manufacturers must display this warning
on all amalgam sold in California:

Warning
This Office uses amalgam filling materials which contain and expose you to
Mercury, a chemical known to the state of California to cause birth defects
and other reproductive harm. Please consult your dentist for more
information.
<<

If there is anything newer on the subject, I couldn't find it after a 30
minutes of searching of the web. If there is something newer that
contradicts this, then I apologize.