After I started this thread I found a forum where they were discussing mercury detox and amalgams and removal. I have no idea if they know what they are talking about when it comes to the detox part (that scares the peewaddle out of me), but had some pretty good info regarding the removal. They said to get a dentist who is trained to do it (preferably one who is associated with, and uses the removal protocol of, IOMAT
(International Academy of Medical and Oral Toxicology). They said to remove it in no fewer than four sessions if you had a mouth full. Many preferred a porcelain product called CEREC. You can get fillings and crowns made from this. It does have aluminum oxide in it, but it is inert due to the "oxide" part. There isn't a dental restoration material that doesn't have a metal of some kind in it.
IAMOT websiteCliffordwjclifford@ccrlab.com -- email of head of IAMOT (not sure if he still is, but apparently he knows almost everything about all the types of repair materials and which ones he prefers and why). WJ Clifford. they quote him often and say he is very helpful
This is a quote from Walter Clifford I took from that amalgam forum:
Quote:
Got my reply back from Walter Clifford today. Below is what he had to say about CERAC crowns, as well as some of the other restorative alternatives available:
"There is no such entity in nature as a non-metallic restorative material. NONE WHATSOEVER! (in spite of all of the ads for 'metal-free' restorations). Freshman chemistry courses teach the nature of anions and cations, and anywhere there is an anion, there needs to be a balancing cation. Cations are nearly always metals. There is a substantial difference between frankly reduced (shiny) metal and fully oxidized metal (think sodium in table salt). All restorative products, including ceramics, porcelains, acrylic materials, glass iomomers, etc., will contain metals, albeit they are usually in an oxidized state. CEREC crowns ALL contain oxidized metals. Nearly all CEREC crown materials (we are aware of about 30 different ones) are simply lab-cured and fabricated blanks which are prepared for carving rather than being cast into an impression piece taken from the mouth. In all cases, the resulting crowns will be cemented or bonded into place with similar agents. The CEREC materials are also available in conventional forms for the lab fabricating process using a mouth impression. CEREC crowns are milled at chair-side and can be placed all in one visit. This saves time and is convenient. Otherwise, they are made from the same ingredients as traditional ceramic and porcelain crowns. As to posts, I do not have any extensive list of posts which have been used with crowns. Today, various precious and non-precious alloys can be used to fabricate posts, if needed, and some will be formed from carbon (think aramide) and fiberglass. I suppose stainless steel and aluminum rod stock could be used.
Common metals used in CEREC crowns are the same as used in traditional ceramic and porcelain crowns. The basic lattice structures will either be aluminosilicate (aluminum, silicon and oxygen) or zirconia (zirconium, silicon and oxygen). Used with these basic lattice materials will be one or more other metals such as antimony, barium, boron (metalloid), cerium, cobalt, cadmium, europium, gallium, hafnium, indium, iron, lanthanum, lithium, manganese, molybdenum, neodymium, nickel, niobium, osmium, rhenium, rhodium, rubidium, ruthenium, samarium, strontium, tantalum, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, ytterbium, yttrium and zinc. I'm certain that I have forgotten a few, not to mention the classical presence of copper, gold, palladium, platinum and silver for framework compatibility. Exact composition is determined by manufacturer and brand or trade name." |
I also found a thread that said to avoid Filtek Supreme Composites as they contain Bisphenol A.
I really want to get tested to see how toxic I may be. I have 15 mercury fillings, 8 of them are under crowns (two of which are silver), one of those crowns has a root canal straight through it, and I believe the tooth structure under one of the old fillings under a crown is cracked. I believe when you get different metals touching in your mouth you create a galvanic response and consequently leach more Hg? Is that right? If so, I have several of these small batteries in my mouth. the post part of the crown is a different metal to the filling, the silver coating on two of my crowns is another, and I have a permanent titanium retainer from the recent ortho work I had done. (at least that one isn't touching other metal.)
