Hi there!
I am a newby to the world of biologic dentistry and so on, and am just thinking of replacing a few amalgam fillings. The regular dentist I see said she needs to remove sealants to get at decay underneath. Is this wrong?
Also, she was going to remove an amalgam on the top of a molar, because a small cavity was starting on the side of that tooth, and said that having 2 kinds of filling materials on one tooth might cause sensitivity. Well I was planning to replace the amalgam fillings anyway as soon as we can afford it. But she they just use a vaccuum which is supposed to suck away all the mercury vapor upon removal. I saw a biological dentist for a consultation a couple weeks back and they do way more protocol over there for amalgam removal.
I guess I have several questions around this, but my main frustration involves finding a truly nontoxic filling to replace the mercury ones... is there such a thing? What is the closest?
The biologic dentist and the regular one both use a resin, a plastic composite. The biological one said it tends to be the least reactive or whatever. That some people would react more to porcelain and they do biocompatibility testing (but too expensive for me). The regular dentist was like it's way more affordable than porcelain. So is there no way the insurance would cover porcelain? My concern with porcelain is maybe there could be lead in it? But I already know there are issues with plastics and PBDEs or is it PVCs? Maybe that is sealant.
I asked both dentists for the ingredients in this resin composite fillings they use, and they both gave me printouts of a chemical product and company identification information, mentions on the toxicity. Basically it's quite toxic, flammable, etc. but supposed to be inert when solid. However there was no ingredients listed except this vagary: Uncured methacrylate ester 20-35%
Other ingredients: Inert mineral fillers, activators, and stabilizers.
Huh? Yes- but that could mean anything?! I certainly know it's hard to beat mercury on toxicity, but seriously I don't want to replace fillings with, say, some plastic resin that might offgas or fill my body with continually releasing PBEs, PVC, VOCs, PBDE's PABA, Pthalates, or Biphesenol A or B, or any other dang thing that they don't know about yet or aren't disclosing could be a problem until years after I've had them in my mouth 24/7.
The weirdest part about all this for me is that I asked both dentists straight up about IF any of component of the plastic resin was made of a kind of harmful plastic such as PVC, and NEITHER could/would give me a straight answer. Basically they said there's so many ingredients in there, almost like there's no way to know.
This dental practice that I've seen for 20 years- and put in my mercury amalgam fillings! - has only recently, quietly stopped using amalgams but not saying ooh it's bad or advertising why. They should. But all in the name of not being sued, the ADA goes on, I suppose.
And same question goes for my kids should they need any fillings. So far my oldest DD has a couple and we got her porcelain.
Just wish I knew! Would rather have substances known to be not good, such as problematic or potentially so plastics, not in my mouth, even if my body seemed to "prefer" them over the more expensive porcelain or whatever.
Any knowledge or experience over whether porcelain/plastic resin/or ? would be the least toxic?
Comments? Advice? Suggestions? Insights? Feedback? Questions?
I really appreciate this, and need to figure out a plan before my appointment in 2 weeks! (to replace sealants with this resin- holding off on digging out the mercury in a possibly unsafe way). OH and should mention that I am nursing my 16 month old DS.
TIA!
I am a newby to the world of biologic dentistry and so on, and am just thinking of replacing a few amalgam fillings. The regular dentist I see said she needs to remove sealants to get at decay underneath. Is this wrong?
Also, she was going to remove an amalgam on the top of a molar, because a small cavity was starting on the side of that tooth, and said that having 2 kinds of filling materials on one tooth might cause sensitivity. Well I was planning to replace the amalgam fillings anyway as soon as we can afford it. But she they just use a vaccuum which is supposed to suck away all the mercury vapor upon removal. I saw a biological dentist for a consultation a couple weeks back and they do way more protocol over there for amalgam removal.
I guess I have several questions around this, but my main frustration involves finding a truly nontoxic filling to replace the mercury ones... is there such a thing? What is the closest?
The biologic dentist and the regular one both use a resin, a plastic composite. The biological one said it tends to be the least reactive or whatever. That some people would react more to porcelain and they do biocompatibility testing (but too expensive for me). The regular dentist was like it's way more affordable than porcelain. So is there no way the insurance would cover porcelain? My concern with porcelain is maybe there could be lead in it? But I already know there are issues with plastics and PBDEs or is it PVCs? Maybe that is sealant.
I asked both dentists for the ingredients in this resin composite fillings they use, and they both gave me printouts of a chemical product and company identification information, mentions on the toxicity. Basically it's quite toxic, flammable, etc. but supposed to be inert when solid. However there was no ingredients listed except this vagary: Uncured methacrylate ester 20-35%
Other ingredients: Inert mineral fillers, activators, and stabilizers.
Huh? Yes- but that could mean anything?! I certainly know it's hard to beat mercury on toxicity, but seriously I don't want to replace fillings with, say, some plastic resin that might offgas or fill my body with continually releasing PBEs, PVC, VOCs, PBDE's PABA, Pthalates, or Biphesenol A or B, or any other dang thing that they don't know about yet or aren't disclosing could be a problem until years after I've had them in my mouth 24/7.
The weirdest part about all this for me is that I asked both dentists straight up about IF any of component of the plastic resin was made of a kind of harmful plastic such as PVC, and NEITHER could/would give me a straight answer. Basically they said there's so many ingredients in there, almost like there's no way to know.
This dental practice that I've seen for 20 years- and put in my mercury amalgam fillings! - has only recently, quietly stopped using amalgams but not saying ooh it's bad or advertising why. They should. But all in the name of not being sued, the ADA goes on, I suppose.
And same question goes for my kids should they need any fillings. So far my oldest DD has a couple and we got her porcelain.
Just wish I knew! Would rather have substances known to be not good, such as problematic or potentially so plastics, not in my mouth, even if my body seemed to "prefer" them over the more expensive porcelain or whatever.
Any knowledge or experience over whether porcelain/plastic resin/or ? would be the least toxic?
Comments? Advice? Suggestions? Insights? Feedback? Questions?
I really appreciate this, and need to figure out a plan before my appointment in 2 weeks! (to replace sealants with this resin- holding off on digging out the mercury in a possibly unsafe way). OH and should mention that I am nursing my 16 month old DS.
TIA!
We don't have anything like the means to get a house at this time. My husband is a schoolteacher. Albeit, unemployed at the moment too!
didnt think to look there.
