31 replies to this topic

[Centurion]

Hi folks,

 

I grind my teeth at night. I also have three mercury amalgam fillings, all on back teeth.

I'm concerned that this might over time cause problems. I've read that bruxism greatly increases the release of mercury from the fillings over time. (recently I've been noticing some parathesia for example)

Also, I was in the past hit by a toxic reaction to a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, so I'd rather not take any chances.

 

What's your take on this guys?

Should I go see a dentist to have these things removed?

 

[Danail Bulgaria]

Griding teeth while speep is treated by neurologists. You need to treat it only in order to have teeth. Calming down, solving your problems and meditation also works well.

 

The parathesia most likely is not due to the amalgam fillings. Most probabbly you have some other neurologic condition, that only has appeared at the same time frame with the teeth grinding.

 

I am doing the opposite - I am taking off the polymer fillings and place amalgam on their place.

[niner]

I am doing the opposite - I am taking off the polymer fillings and place amalgam on their place.

 

Why would you do this?

 

 

Centurion:  Look into a Night Guard.  They are plastic things that you wear in your mouth at night to prevent damage to your teeth.  That would be a better and cheaper solution than amalgam removal, and would also save your remaining enamel.

[Danail Bulgaria]

Because all my teeth with polymer fillings developed secundaria caries, and all my amalgam fillings are perfect.

[Centurion]

So I should stop worrying about the health concerns of amalgam and only have these things replaced when needed?

Lately I've been thinking over this a lot, the idea of mercury building in my brain and nervous system freaks me out

The idea that it might trigger an illness or cause permanent damage has me scared, and tbh I'm thinking it over almost constantly at the moment, googling studies etc for the past couple of days.

Then when I try to tell myself that I'm just freaking out irrationally, I also consider that irrationality and irritability are symptomatic of problems with mercury.

 

I was picturing the worst when I started to feel a little ill earlier last week and now I'm picturing the worst about this. I know I need to relax and quit worrying, but part of me is concerned that keeping these in and not acting on my worries might cause some sort of future health issue.

Edited by Centurion, 22 September 2016 - 01:29 AM.

[aconita]

Amalgam is handled as a toxic waste which says it all about its safety.

 

Plus it looks ugly...

 

The only advantage of amalgam is the easiness of working with it in order to achieve a perfect sealing of the cavity, period.

 

With polymer fillings more skill and attention in preparing the cavity has to be employed and since skill and attention are not mainstream in dentistry it may happen that wrong practice leads to faulty sealing and new cavity development, that is not because the material employed but because the lack of skill of the dentist.

 

Change your dentist, not your polymer fillings for amalgam.

 

Meanwhile you find a solution to the bruxism issue (maybe supplementing magnesium before bedtime in order to enhance relaxation) the easiest way is to buy those trays used for teeth bleaching, you'll find them from China for next to nothing.

 

Those are like boxing or football mouth guards but much thinner and wearing at night will prevent damages as suggested by Niner and actually it is what usually prescribed for bruxism, the only difference is the one your dentist sells will cost an arm and a leg compared (and is exactly the same thing).

 

I suggest to buy more than one since the procedure of boiling and biting might be tricky at the first attempt and result in a failure (they come in pairs anyway).

[Centurion]

I'm very seriously considering having these fillings replaced with composite to be on the safe side.

One of them is very deep (back tooth) and the dentist who filled it originally did say she took a lot of the original material away (probably to place the amalgam!)

She's a part time dentist who only works two days a week and probably lacking in expertise.

 

I'm going to go ask about this next week because I've spent day and night thinking, worrying and reading about this since I first read about the issues with amalgam. The idea of having a toxin in my mouth makes me extremely anxious.

[aconita]

The idea of having a toxin in my mouth makes me extremely anxious

 

A good reason by itself to get that amalgam out.

 

I suppose you are aware that the removal procedure is not so straightforward, only one filling at a time in order to avoid too much amalgam residual around and very careful job in order to remove really ALL of it, consider finding a dentist specialized in doing it.

 

A superficial job will cause more harm than good. 

[Centurion]

 

The idea of having a toxin in my mouth makes me extremely anxious

 

A good reason by itself to get that amalgam out.

 

I suppose you are aware that the removal procedure is not so straightforward, only one filling at a time in order to avoid too much amalgam residual around and very careful job in order to remove really ALL of it, consider finding a dentist specialized in doing it.

 

A superficial job will cause more harm than good. 

 

 

Yeah I spoke to the dentist who I am seeing next week about this. They said they'll use a rubber dam, high speed suction, water, etc. and will also if requested provide supplemental air (which I will go for I think)

 

My only concern is that the bottom right molar is extensively filled, and my previous dentist who filled it said she had to drill away quite a lot of the tooth, and noted that the nerve seemed to have "retreated downward" or similar. This was three years ago though, so perhaps the tooth has shored up a little since then?

 

Thats my main concern, that there might be complications where I'd loose a tooth or teeth.

 

There seems to be worry in either approach :-(

[aconita]

Those are concerns that only a skillful dentist and x rays can elucidate but anyway there are always some risks involved, of course.

[Centurion]

Those are concerns that only a skillful dentist and x rays can elucidate but anyway there are always some risks involved, of course.

 

Do I need to go to one of those "biological" dentists? Or can I have this done at my usual dental practice provided I enquire about certain precautions? I ask because no biological dentists are covered by my insurance (denplan)

There is one dentist who I found locally here in Belfast who uses most of the biological techniques, but I decided to cancel my checkup with them, as I had read a google review mentioning they were reputed to carry out unnecessary root canals and crowns for financial gain.

[Centurion]

So, I spoke to my existing dentist.

They didn't share my concerns about the extraction process and potential mercury exposure, so I went elsewhere, to another local dentist, on my insurance plan who would be happy to implement the safety measures I request.

As its an elective replacement of fillings which are only three years old, its entirely possible that my insurance won't pay out and I'll have to foot the bill myself.

 

Time will tell. Hopefully it doesn't run too much. Also - hopefully they don't also exclude followup work needed *after* elective treatment

[Centurion]

So folks, I seem to have found the one rare dentist in the world who doesn't want to dive in with both drills at the sight of some potential money to be made.

They have advised I see a CBT counsellor for a while to settle myself down before undergoing any elective treatment. I'll do this.

 

My issues with slight parathesia, twitching etc continue - but there may be other explanations for this, which Im pursuing with my GP. For example I've had a couple of colds and chesty coughs in this past month and a half and have been very run down generally.

 

Looking forward to finding a way to sort this out one way or another, mercury or no mercury a month of constant worry and dread has taken its toll.

[Danail Bulgaria]

Centurion, man.

 

Stop doing nonsences and go to a neurologist.

[Centurion]

Centurion, man.

 

Stop doing nonsences and go to a neurologist.

 

Hey man, I will speak to my doctor about doing that at my next appointment.

 

Apparently I do not grind, but rather I clench, which is just as bad.

 

My dentist believes evening out my bite may cure my clenching, but Im not keen on filing down teeth on a "maybe"

 

One of the amalgam filled teeth has began to internally "resorb" or dissolve due to my clenching habit. It will need to be removed and replaced with a titanium implant.

 

Once that is done, I will have three remaining amalgam filled teeth. One large, one small, and one medium filling. I am still undecided about what I will do regarding those fillings. Removing them risks complications from further enamel loss. Yet I worry about the potential long term health implications of having mercury in my mouth.

 

I have begun to see a counsellor about the worrying, as I have lost around 5 kilos in body weight in the past month, most of it muscle - most likely  due to constant anxiety.

[Danail Bulgaria]

If you wake up when you clench, then you may simply place something soft between the teeth, like a small part from the blanket wrinkled in a ball, and that is enough to protect your teeth. If you don't wake up while clenching, then you may place the Night Guard that @niner suggested you. If you can't afford it, you may eventually improvise on your responsibility placing something home made simmilar to the Night Guard. But you have to make it large enough to not fall, or you have to fix it somehow arround your face, because if it falls behind your thongue, while you being asleep, your improvised device may block your trachea and sufficate you.

 

That is the such called symptomatic treatment for until you find a way to calm down your thoughts, like calming down your anxiety and solving your problems as much as you can. The last is the ethiological, or the causal treatment, e.g. that treatment, that targets the cause. The best will be to visit a neurologyst. If for some reason you can't afford or cant reach a neurlogyst, you again may improvise. Moderate sporting recoveres the muscle mass. And relaxing meditation calms you down. You can make both for free at home. For training withou weights, you may use your body as a training device, such as making pushups for the bicepses. For anti anxiety therapy yu may use a relaxation autotraining. Simply lay yourself on the bed, close your eyes and start to wilt all your parts of the body one by one. Then relax your thoughts by trying not to think about anything. Don't make your brain suppress the thoughts, because that activates it, instead simply wait for the thought to finish and try not to make another thought.

 

Perhaps you may check out somehow if you have some genetic predisposition to get poisioned from the mercurry in the amalgam more than the others. If you dont have such a predisposition, you may be completely sure, that the amalgam is harmless for you.

If you want that very much to replace your fillings, then make your dentist to drill only the amalgam, not the tooth tissues for removing your amalgam fillings. Little by little, without hurring it happens. You may replace the amalgam fillings with composite ones, that are good and instead of releasing periodically bad mercurry that poisions you, they release periodically a cancerogenic monomere, that is notpoisioning you, and the only thing it may eventually bring you is a cancer.

[Danail Bulgaria]

P.S. paresthesias can be symptoms of other neurologic problems, so you have to visist a neurologist anyway.

[aconita]

Filing teeth is a very criminal idea, it will alter your jaw position and cause issues you don't want to know about.

 

I might suggest you to try supplementing magnesium just before sleep since its calming action could possibly solve the clenching problem, theanine, GABA, topical progesterone are some other options that might help to relax.

[Danail Bulgaria]

If I have to be completely honest, I think, that both amalgam and composite fillings are safe, because whatever they release is in so small amounths, that it is harmless. You cant kill a cell with one molecule even from the strongest poision.

 

Removing fillings solely for the idea that they release dangerous agents is an overkill that involves too thin calculations. And the most often when we make too thin calculations we end up screwed up.

 

Eventually another way to recover the lost dental tissues is with pinlays, overlays etc., which are made from a dental technician in a lab, after an impression being taken from your mouth, and they are made from biocompatable metal alloys or some modern type of ceramics. They release nothing. At least they shouldnt. But they involve too much dental tissues to be filed away, require more visits and are much more expensive. My advice is stay with your fillings and live your life. It will be equally long and happy with or without the fillings.

 

The fillings can alter your jaw position only if they are made wrongly, or for some other reason they cant be made correctly. Such is being "too high". If they get well ajusted the jaw position remains the same.

[niner]

 

Centurion, man.

 

Stop doing nonsences and go to a neurologist.

 

Hey man, I will speak to my doctor about doing that at my next appointment.

 

Apparently I do not grind, but rather I clench, which is just as bad.

 

My dentist believes evening out my bite may cure my clenching, but Im not keen on filing down teeth on a "maybe"

 

One of the amalgam filled teeth has began to internally "resorb" or dissolve due to my clenching habit. It will need to be removed and replaced with a titanium implant.

 

Once that is done, I will have three remaining amalgam filled teeth. One large, one small, and one medium filling. I am still undecided about what I will do regarding those fillings. Removing them risks complications from further enamel loss. Yet I worry about the potential long term health implications of having mercury in my mouth.

 

I have begun to see a counsellor about the worrying, as I have lost around 5 kilos in body weight in the past month, most of it muscle - most likely  due to constant anxiety.

 

Mercury paranoia is way way more harmful than mercury from fillings.   We had a guy here who insisted that his costly amalgam removal was a good thing because it stopped his panic attacks.  (His panic attacks were caused by fear of amalgam fillings...)  I still like the bite guard idea-- It distributes forces over a wide area instead of them being concentrated on one tooth.  I'm kind of shocked that clenching has caused so much resorption that your tooth can't be saved, for example with a crown.  I have a titanium implant from a very good dentist, but it didn't "take" the first time we tried it.  They had to fill the hole with bone graft paste, then I waited a couple months and we tried again.  It worked the second time, but by then I had permanently lost some jawbone.  Everything still functions, but I just want to point out that implants are not a trivial operation.  Things can go wrong.  Implants are also quite expensive. You might want to consider checking in with an orthodontist.  They are very good with bite issues.  

 

I think you might have been poisoned by internet fear-mongering propaganda.  See the counselor and try to stay away from amalgam scare sites.

[aconita]

Clenching is very unlikely to cause resorption, actually it strengthen and enlarge the bone since load on bone does just that.

 

 

[Centurion]

Hi folks,

 

I may seek a second opinion from another dentist before proceeding with anything.

The x ray the dentist showed me did show a quite clear white spot inside the tooth, but it is hard to know if the extraction is truly necessary at this stage, or if they just want to sell the expensive implant option.

They said a root canal isn't feasible because the resorption is too close to the root. They also said that once the resorption process starts it cannot stop and the tooth needs to come out.

 

Tough to know what to do

 

 

[Danail Bulgaria]

The quite clear white spot inside the tooth has to be the amalgam filling itself. 

Such as that one:

https://www.google.b...b-8iYxOxfV0iYM:

 

My oppinion - if the tooth stays stable, fits with stability in the jaw e.g. is not "loosen" and is not painful simply leave it thatway. 

 

In my view fight for the tooth until the end lol If there is a resorption of the root, you may pull it out, yes, but you may also save it. The resorption can be burred away and a dental pin can be cemented inside the tooth, which will allow the root to be used to make a crown and you may be able to use your tooth long time. 

[Centurion]

The white spot was below the amalgam filling, not far from the root.

The resorption was not yet inside the root itself. By root i mean either of the two parts where the tooth bifurcates btw, I dont mean the nerve, just in case im getting my terminology wrong.

 

I will ask a second opinion. Another dentist may wish to use a post and glass ionomer cement to save the tooth. Or perhaps the original dentist is correct and extraction is my sole option. I would rather know than be at the mercy of someone who may have an interest in fitting a 2000 pound implant.

 

I will need to check first that this dentist uses rubber dam / isolated air supply when drilling amalgam however. Id rather not breathe in aerosolised mercury.

[Danail Bulgaria]

Resorption should be "black spot" 

Based on what you are writting so far, the tooth can be saved. Ofcourse noone can give you a perfect consultation without you being examined. 

 

You seem very confident to remove your amalgam fillings and you avoid and refuse any other oppinion and option lol. I wish you a good luck then. Do it at your way and be happy. 

[Centurion]

I think we misunderstood one another

The tooth which is resorbing is amalgam filled

If Im to save the tooth, the amalgam in that tooth will need to be drilled, it was that which I was speaking of when I spoke of rubber dams / isolated air suppli

 

Neither would be necessary if the tooth was being extracted, but If there is any chance to save the tooth I would like to

[theCLK]

https://iaomt.org/

 

amalgams are NOT OK. 50% mercury and it only takes trace elements of HG+ to destroy areas of your brain.

 

[niner]

The above video is typical disinformation from mercury scare sites.  It shows the effect of 30 micromolar mercury ion on neurite growth.  Of course it's neurotoxic at that concentration; that's 6 mg per liter!  There is no way in hell that you would ever see such a concentration from a filling.  The dose makes the poison.

[theCLK]

Fair point that video is exaggerated at that amount, but I gotta say though, that i had no knowledge of this until my dentist removed 11 mercury fillings  - huge memory loss, depersonalization, derealization and the my brain feeling like it was on fire.

[Danail Bulgaria]

I think we misunderstood one another

The tooth which is resorbing is amalgam filled

If Im to save the tooth, the amalgam in that tooth will need to be drilled, it was that which I was speaking of when I spoke of rubber dams / isolated air suppli

 

Neither would be necessary if the tooth was being extracted, but If there is any chance to save the tooth I would like to

 

The best I think will be to do it your way - as you would accept it. There are always ways for everything. It is you to choose what is the best for you.

 

My oppinion - treat the clenching or grinding, and live your life happy.

 

If you are not satisfied, and want to save as much from the tooth as you like, then drill away the amalgam, slowly little by little (protected with the dam if you wish) and replace the amalgam with what you wish - monomere releasing polymers, breakable and indurable glas ionomers or expensive onlays.

 

If you are not satisfied, and you want to remove the filling in a single block, with the cost of sacrificing much hard dental tissues, then you may use laser dentistry, which is much expensive. Some wavelengths ablate away the dental tissues, but are being reflected from the amalgam and don't ablate it (Er:YAG and ErCr:YSGG dental lasers). It is possible to ablate away only the hard dental tissues, remove the amalgam in a block and leave your tooth with a large crater, which further will be recovered somehow with overlays or with a dental crown. It is possible. 

 

Even if you decide to pull out the tooth, which is the worse accoring to me, and place an implant it is also possible.

 

You may even pull out the tooth and simply remain with one tooth less. You may ive 100+ years even without your teeth. If you have received some amalgam paranoia, and only removal of the amalgam will stop it, then it should be medically acceptable to sacrifice the tooth to heal your paranoic brain.

 

There are more solutions, I would say maybe infinitely many solutions, and it all depends on what exactly, very exactly, would you like.

 

 

 

My advice:

 

Visit neyrologist and live your life with the amalgam. I have at least 10 amalgam fillings, my brain is fine, and my life is happy

 

Plan B

 

Drill out the amalgam with a standart burr and a dental dam, fill the gap with something on your choice, and live happily ever after.