WWYD-Amalgam removal & TTC

[lizliz]

Hello,

I had three silver fillings removed six months ago. They were crumbling and had to be replaced. I had composite ones put in afterwords.

There is no biological dentist in my area. My dentist did use a dental dam while drilling out my fillings. My dentist used suction the whole time. My dentist told me that I could TTC right away and that very few people are "mercury sensitive".

Does anyone know how long I should wait to TTC? Especially since I am sure I got a lot of mercury ingested through mercury vapor. I did not chelate. Would waiting a year before getting pregnant be okay even though my dentist didn't use the proper protocols?

Thanks in advance!

Liz

[dinahx]

Subbing. This same thing happened to me, the dentist followed the same (wack) protocols (dam and suction only). I wound up conceiving the same cycle (2 weeks later). I miscarried at 10 weeks (common for environmental m/c) and I blame the exposure completely, if only I could document it. :cry:

Now I am considering getting the rest removed by a biological dentist so I can chelate. I personally think I was doing fine with the mercury I had, but the removal pushed me over the edge, and now I need to chelate.

If I go for biological removal and chealtion, I am supposed to wean too. :? If I do chelate, I will be TTC in about 6 months probably. I just can't wait a year or more, it is just not an option, so I'll have to do the best I can.

I will probably wean, although I didn't even take a break after the non biological removal. The dentist told me there was no need.

[Lordy5]

Originally Posted by dinahx

I will probably wean, although I didn't even take a break after the non biological removal. The dentist told me there was no need.

And he was right. I am so sorry for your loss. A miscarriage is devastating. However, 1 in 3 pregnancies ends that way, so there is no reason to believe that the dental work was the cause. I totally understand the desire to have a "reason" but often, there isn't one.

Moms having dental work should NOT wean.

[dinahx]

Honestly I feel like there really *was* a reason to wean after my non-biological removal and there is plenty of evidence that the mercury as well as Bisphenol A could have influenced my miscarriage. I conceived only 14 days after the removal and there was aboslutely mercury exposure at the time of the removal. In fact, my particular loss (10 weeks) is at a time commonly associated with environmentally caused miscarriages.

Are you coming at this from a pro-mercury filling perspective or a lactation support perspective???

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by lizliz

My dentist told me that I could TTC right away and that very few people are "mercury sensitive".

Not that many people are sick enough to notice the extra mercury that they got, but that's a different issue. I _was_ sick enough to feel the extra mercury, even from a biological dentist using a good removal protocol. A lot of dentists are in a very difficult position, because accepting that the amalgam fillings they've placed in peoples' mouths have caused illness is not an attractive idea. I don't harbor any ill feelings for the dentist who place my amalgams, but I imagine some dentists have been verbally attacked.

Does anyone know how long I should wait to TTC? Especially since I am sure I got a lot of mercury ingested through mercury vapor. I did not chelate. Would waiting a year before getting pregnant be okay even though my dentist didn't use the proper protocols?

Thanks in advance!

Liz

There are a lot of variables and it's hard to weigh for each individual. I need to chelate and am, and will continue until my body burden of mercury is very very low. Andy Cutler's book has some data on how peoples' bodies dump mercury after their amalgam fillings are removed, and being pregnant in the 3-6 months after removal is the worst time in terms of circulating mercury levels. It's not really clear if this is just mercury toxic people or everyone, though I think my husband has had subtle mood improvements around the 6-month post-amalgam removal mark and he's definitely not mercury toxic, we just got his replaced on general principle. How quickly your body excretes mercury depends on your inherent ability (mine is poor, my husband's seems quite good) and your nutritional state, plus of course whether you take active steps to get it out.

Not a lot of specifics, sorry, this doesn't have an easy, one-size-fits-all path.

[dinahx]

Tanya, how are you ascertaining your mercury level? By hair tests? I am having trouble with this, because they seem expensive (as in I can't afford them especially not more than one) and also I am having a little trouble with the whole they don't show mercury, just a signature bit. Would a stool test actually show the mercury? I am a tiny bit concerned about it holding up in court. Not that I will bring suit, but I find it really unfair that I have to pay for my removal after I was thrown into toxicity by an agressive and mean dentist who basically bullied me into non-IAMOT removal.

[Lordy5]

Originally Posted by dinahx

Honestly I feel like there really *was* a reason to wean after my non-biological removal and there is plenty of evidence that the mercury as well as Bisphenol A could have influenced my miscarriage. I conceived only 14 days after the removal and there was aboslutely mercury exposure at the time of the removal. In fact, my particular loss (10 weeks) is at a time commonly associated with environmentally caused miscarriages.

Are you coming at this from a pro-mercury filling perspective or a lactation support perspective???

I am coming at this as a scientist and as an IBCLC

Also, there is no such thing as a "mercury" filling. There is a tiny amount of mercury in amalgam fillings. It is bound to the other metals in the filling for the most part. 10 weeks is a common time to miscarry, regardless of dental work having been done. Miscarrying is upsetting and disappointing, and again, I am very sorry for your loss.

All I am saying is that miscarriage is, sadly, extremely commonplace. Usually we have no way of knowing what causes one, despite the fact that we all wish we *could* know because it might mean we could prevent it from happening again.

And I definitely do not think that routine removal of amalgam fillings is cause to discontinue a breastfeeding relationship.

[tanyalynn]

I don't know an actual mercury level, per se. My health collapsed halfway through my last pregnancy and my health history, once I really looked at it, made it clear that basically all my "real" health problems (allergies, anxiety, depression, hypothyroid, and adrenal fatigue) all stem from my amalgam fillings. It was the reason my son started banging his head on the wall when he was about 10 mos old.

It sounds like you've got ample reason to be angry and hurt, but this isn't the type of stuff that is proveable and I would try to let that go, if you can.

We did a hair test for my daughter, my first child, as a proxy for all of us. I wanted to look for lead (thankfully no) and see if there was anything else unexpected. I didn't expect to see so much arsenic, but I should've, it is typical since mercury and arsenic are detoxified (or not) by the same process in the body.

Here's some discussion of hair tests and their interpretation in another thread...

http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...435848&page=30

You can order one by yourself (a Doctor's Data Hair Elements test, not the Toxic Hair Exposure profile--you want the one with the short name) through Direct Lab Services. You can get a discount if you call to order and mention the autism-mercury yahoo group, the final price is in the 70s IIRC.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by Lordy5

I am coming at this as a scientist and as an IBCLC

Also, there is no such thing as a "mercury" filling. There is a tiny amount of mercury in amalgam fillings. It is bound to the other metals in the filling for the most part. 10 weeks is a common time to miscarry, regardless of dental work having been done. Miscarrying is upsetting and disappointing, and again, I am very sorry for your loss.

All I am saying is that miscarriage is, sadly, extremely commonplace. Usually we have no way of knowing what causes one, despite the fact that we all wish we *could* know because it might mean we could prevent it from happening again.

And I definitely do not think that routine removal of amalgam fillings is cause to discontinue a breastfeeding relationship.

Amalgam fillings are approximately half mercury. It is commonly accepted, even by the ADA, that they emit mercury on a daily basis, the controversy is whether this can cause problems for some people. There is a significant amount of data that is suggestive, but I agree not completely conclusive, that this amount of mercury is very, very problematic for some people.

[lizliz]

I am so sorry to hear about your miscarriage.

I would definitely go to a biological dentist if I needed work done. I have read many times that you should wean if you are getting amalgams out. =(

Good luck to you!
Liz

[lizliz]

Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate it!

I feel okay but I was so sick after my amalgam removal. I felt dizzy and really "off". I then ended up a bad cold, then cough, then ear infection. It was a month before I felt normal again. I don't know if it was due to the amalgam removal or if it was some sort of virus I was going to get anyway.

I hope you are feeling better soon!

Liz

[dinahx]

I agree Tanya! I appreciate your interest in posting on this thread Lordy, and I definitely debate whether weaning is necessary after biological removal, BUT there is truly no such thing as an 'amalgum' or a 'silver' filling. They are mercury fillings. I am quite used to this type of dental subterfuge, my regular non biological dentist regularly refers to x-rays as 'pictures'. It is a little like 'non-stick' or 'anodized' cookware. They leave off the word aluminum and hope you won't find out. There is nothing tiny about the amount of mercury in these fillings and it ceases to be bound when it is drilled out and becomes airborne. It can then be inhaled (worse) or swallowed.

As an annoying aside, I just read that the airblaster that my dentist may use on my teeth tomorrow as a drill alternative (got to love that) will be particulate aluminum oxide. :shock: :gasp: :sigh: This is very upsetting! It seems that non-toxic dentistry is still a thing of the future.

[Koalamom]

I am always so mad when I hear about dentist that don't take all the precautions when removing mercury fillings. My mother went to the dentist a few months ago, and they were working on some minor cavity. She has many merc fillings, and they decided while they were at it, they would just drill away some of her old fillings and replace them. She was told afterwards. She has been dealing with many health problems, and this put it over the top. From all of the mercury, she was basically bed ridden. She was so sick. I am so mad at her dentist. How could they do that to her? She is now feeling a bit better, but it doesn't end there. A few weeks after the removal, she started getting terrible cracks all over her fingers like the worst dry skin. Around then, my sister was visiting with her 3 month old baby. My mother was watching the baby for sister, and when the baby started to cry, my mother let the baby suck on her "clean" finger. The next day, the baby got terrible thrush. And from my research, thrush (yeast) can grow to protect us from the metals on our body. Now she had no idea that she was excreting the mercury from her fingers and probably was.
Sorry for the long rant, but I feel like dentists need to either learn the right way to remove fillings (including a detox program) or leave the teeth alone!!!!

I would never go to a dentist that doesn't remove mercury properly.

As for TTC, that is a rough subject. It really is individualized on how your body is dealing with the detoxing. I am planning on having many kids, an because of that I am not probably ever going to remove my mercury filings. If I had them removed, and was TTC, I would probably wait a year.

I don't want to stir things up, but I would always consider a connection if I had merc removed, and had a miscarriage shortly afterwards. Even if it wasn't connected, I would probably go my whole life thinking it was.

[lizliz]

I am so sorry that your mom got so sick. I have also heard of the mercury/yeast connection. I hope your mom feels better soon.

Thank you for replying!
Liz