How bad is it to lose a mercury filling while pregnant?

[Kreeblim]

I kinda looked around a little but most posts are about intentionally removing them.

I am about a week overdue (41+ weeks preggo) and a large filling in one of my back teeth just came out while I was flossing. I half suspected it was loose for a while now but figured I would ask about it after I gave birth when I went to the dentist to have one of my other teeth filled (with composite). It is a very old filling, probably at least 12 years old and part of it is still in there and firmly attached to the tooth. I have probably 5 other large mercury fillings in my back teeth that are just as old.

So how bad is this? Is there anything I should be doing? Should I leave the other half in there, or try to get an emergency appointment at the dentist? I could literally pop at any moment so my options are severly limited.

Thanks for any help!

[tanyalynn]

Did you spit it out or swallow it?

If you spit it out, I wouldn't expect an issue, except that you'll need to do something about the tooth (for the decay) and that can be problematic--it's drilling the amalgam that releases extra mercury. But amalgams are an amalgamation of several metals, they're the same material throughout. The outside isn't different than the inside, so I wouldn't expect more mercury to leach from the new surface than the old one.

Old or new doesn't really matter, since they're about half mercury, 47%, even old amalgams still have the vast majority of the original mercury.

If you swallowed it, I'd expect there's potential for GI upset and skewed bacterial flora, which you really wouldn't want now. I'd get my hands on the best probiotic supp I could, preferably both that and kefir if you consume dairy or fermented veggies (like yummy, yummy kimchee, easy to make at home ) if that's what you prefer.