[Freud]

I've done some reading on this and am still on the fence. Is it safer to have them removed or safer to keep them in? In either case, there's exposure to mercury. My dentist is willing to take my three fillings out using proper protocol, but I'm still not convinced that the exposure at the time of removal will be safe for me. I don't see myself doing any sort of chelation. I can up my doses of vitamin C, but not by much, since I cannot take many pills per day (I have the lap band, and pills get caught easily).

Any opinions or experiences?

My dentist could not offer his opinion. He just stated that, yes, he does remove them according to protocol, but that he cannot say that he would recommend it, because the ADA still claims amalgam is safe. He sort of implied that he agreed and that he removes them only to please patients. In my case, the fillings are okay, but are about 10-15 years old and could be replaced just because they're old.

 

[tanyalynn]

I'd say it depends on your health. My family health history is full of the types of problems that people with problems excreting mercury have. And when I wrote down my personal health history, in relation to when my amalgams were placed, I realized I really may have a problem (I do, I'm working on it and making good progress). Not everyone's family history looks like this because most people are a lot better at excreting mercury, inherently, than I am. Things like depression, anxiety, other more serious mood issues, thyroid problems, fatigue in general beyond what other people in similar circumstances seem to have, alzheimer's are all sometimes (I'm not saying always) related to mercury detoxification issues. Allergies (enviro and food), that's another one, digestive issues are also common. So I'd look for clusters of those things. You could read more in the studies at iaomt.org, that's one place I read when I was first starting, and probably the Files of the frequent dose chelation yahoo group.

There are quite a few supplements that are liquids, if/when you ever need them (regardless of what you do with your amalgams). Push comes to shove, I used to empty pill capsules into very small amounts of juice (2T or less) for my kids--not sure of your constraints there. Tastes nasty though.

In terms of safety--even with a safe removal protocol, you'll get extra mercury exposure upon removal. So short-term, it's a negative. At a rough guess, about 12 months out after removal, assuming you don't use a bad chelation protocol, you should be okay for TTC (so what's circulating will be about the same as now) and over time, with the lower daily toxin exposure, you'll be better off. That 12 months is a best-guess, no one's really sure on that (if TTC is an issue for you). I've sometimes read 18 mos, but I think that's a guess too.

 

[MyLilPwny]

I chose to remove my amalgams 5 years ago. I had 7 or 8 of them. I wasn't having any mercury toxicity symptoms though. I just did not want any mercury in my body, and I was following curezone.com guidelines for internal cleansing which says dental cleanup is the first step to healing. I was actually mostly doing it to cure my acne, which I did successfully a few years ago. I have the composite resins in place of the amalgams now, which have BPA, but I don't think it is as toxic as mercury. My husband and his siblings all had sealants put into all their teeth as kids and sealants have BPA too.

 

[Freud]

Here's a hypothetical: Would you recommend removal of amalgams IF the person was not going to take any other steps (ie vitamin supplementation or chelation protocols) to remove mercury from the system?

 

[MyLilPwny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freud Here's a hypothetical: Would you recommend removal of amalgams IF the person was not going to take any other steps (ie vitamin supplementation or chelation protocols) to remove mercury from the system?

Yeah. I personally didn't do anything special after getting my amalgams removed. No chelation, special supplementation, etc.

 

[WuWei]

check out the Chelating mamas? thread for many mamas who've btdt.

Here are a few older threads which might help.
Amalgam Question
Do you regret your mercury removal?
Need nutrition/supplement suggestions for amalgam removal for me while bf a 20-month-old
The dentist removed my amalgam without telling me!
um, he removed my amalgam fillings and I'm scared!
mercury filling replacement and breastfeeding

Decay under an amalgam and a ebf baby
Amalgam removal, family planning, and the almighty dollar. How to balance?
I got my amalgam filling removed and have some questions...
Is it safe to have my amalgams replaced while nursing?
anyone know anything about mercury filling removal and breastfeeding??

How to find a local dentist to safely remove amalgam fillings?
Having amalgam fillings replaced
need filling replaced--during pg or while nursing?
almalgam and ttc and more???
amalgam removal and conception
UPDATE: Anyone had amalgam removed--W/OUT AIR FLOW?

How do I ask questions about the amalgam removal protocol my dentist uses?
mercury removal and breastfeeding??
Alternative treatment/amalgam removal/bf/pg
Non protocol amalgam removal

Amalgam removal and Cuttler research ?
WWYD-Amalgam removal & TTC
How long after amalgam removal is TTC safe?
WWYD? Wean/Amalgum Removal/TTC??? (Long, Plz HELP!!!)

Nutrition After Amalgam Removal
Root canal and crown or silver filling?
Certain cheeses help to protect against dental caries.
Curing Cavities with Nutrition

It is a difficult issue. If I had four or fewer fillings, and/or I wanted to conceive again, I'd have them removed by proper protocol and chelate and not conceive for 18months.

Pat

 

[Koalamom]

Pat, awsome links!! So you would get your merc out if your were going to concieve? Why do you feel this way? I do plan on having 1 more babe, but don't think I plan on getting the mercury out since I had to have a root canal eventually on the one tooth that was replaced with white.

 

[WuWei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluebirdmama1 Pat, awsome links!! So you would get your merc out if your were going to conceive? Why do you feel this way? I do plan on having 1 more babe, but don't think I plan on getting the mercury out since I had to have a root canal eventually on the one tooth that was replaced with white.

I'd remove the mercury to avoid the long term exposure to myself and adjust my expectations of conceiving, IF I had fewer than 5 fillings. More fillings to remove than that, and it requires multiple large exposures to the mercury during the repeated removal-on different days, so you can't chelate immediately after the initial removal as effectively.

But, if any desire to conceive soon, then I'd rather leave the mercury in until after done birthing and nursing, rather than release mercury and "chelate" into baby.

Are you following Preconception care: Mineral Deficiency Test? We are discussing just this issue. We have varied opinions. You know your situation best.

Pat

 

[tanyalynn]

I'm not sure I'd weigh the # of fillings as much as Pat. I'm sure there is more exposure with more removals, but it's pretty standard to do one quadrant at a time, so often four days of work. But it also seems common to be able to work with the dentist and just do it in two visits, that's what I did.

Dentists seem to want a week of wait time between one visit and the next (my impression, I have no idea why). I _think_ the vitamin C flushes I did were quite helpful in reducing the exposure I got during my dental visits (I can't remember if I did them the night of the work or the next night--probably the same day)...

http://www.perque.com/pdfs/Pt_Ascorbate_Slush_FIN.pdf

I do think willingness to have a lag time between nursing and TTC is a big factor. DS will likely be 5 yo if/when a third child comes along.

 

[Panserbjorne]

I wouldn't, but I am sure I'm in one of those links Pat provided saying the same thing! Of course I have my own reasons for that and each person has their own journey. To me though I have an issue with the idea of mobilization as well as issues with the potential trauma of the procedure. I tend to handle things a bit differently than most though!

 

[lil_miss_understood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Panserbjørne I wouldn't, but I am sure I'm in one of those links Pat provided saying the same thing! Of course I have my own reasons for that and each person has their own journey. To me though I have an issue with the idea of mobilization as well as issues with the potential trauma of the procedure. I tend to handle things a bit differently than most though!

This may be a stupid question, but have you had any evidence that you're mercury toxic or anything of the sort? Have you had any health issues which could be "blamed" on mercury?

 

[Panserbjorne]

I do have metal tests. I also have had a ton of the symptoms, but really don't anymore. I think that's definitely what's helped keep me in this camp. Our metal profiles were all awful. However I have been able to make what I consider to be excellent progress (mercury included) without removal. Had that NOT been the case I'd have reconsidered.

I used to be an absolute wreck. I mean, it's hard to even think about where I've come from. I have had my share of drugs as a result, though none of them actually worked! I have been extremely lucky to have had excellent practitioners. I could never have figured it out on my own. Granted as time has passed I have been able to tweak things myself as well as change things but that wouldn't have been an option back then.

 

[HollyBaby]

I'm having mine redone. They were done just on Tuesday, in eight teeth in my right side, and the dentist was supposed to use composite, but with the anesthesia wearing off every few minutes (I had to be re-numbed eight times), she overlooked composite and used amalgam. That was discovered today (Wednesday still in my time zone as I'm typing) when I was havin my left teeth done. On Monday it'll be back in the chair with me. I don't care what the FDA or ADA or whoever says. It's mercury, and I don't want it. The same people declared mercury thermometers to be unsafe because they MIGHT break, but yet say that fillings of 47% mercury that are in direct contact with us constantly are safe? Um, this...doesn't make sense.

 

[WuWei]

OMG!! I'm not the suing type. But, OMG!! That would scare the $hit out of me. I don't think I'd have ANOTHER huge re-exposure to the mercury vapors so soon.

You just had the huge exposure of removal (seemingly without proper safe removal protocols) AND the huge exposure of *placement* of EIGHT mercury fillings.

To follow that with another EIGHT mercury vapor exposures from removal for replacement in a week is too damn frightening for me to imagine. Seriously, I'd find a different dentist if they think that is humanly safe!! I assume the "correction" is FREE!!?! I'd come back at a later date after finding a holistic dentist to help you chelate safely first!

I'd wait at least 18 months before rexposure to more mercury removal vapors!

My head wants to explode with the sheer incompetence. I'm dumbfounded. How could anyone competent remove EIGHT amalgams and replace them with EIGHT amalgams. That sounds unrealistic even, since there had to be some dental assistance. It doesn't make a lick of sense to do that as a professional dentist. Why would she "make that mistake".

ETA: Come on, something ain't right. You have a four week old newborn and are nursing and 'can't go to the grocery without baby screaming' and had 8 amalgams removed knowing "fillings of 47% mercury that are in direct contact with us constantly are safe"? The amalgam removal takes hours to do. Something doesn't fit.

Pat