Mercury Dental Fillings Not As Safe As Once Thought
In what’s been called a complete about-face, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a statement saying metal dental fillings, which are about half mercury, may lead to health problems in vulnerable individuals such as pregnant or nursing women, small children, and other people with compromised immune systems. The new ruling comes on the wake of settlement of a lawsuit filed against the agency by a number of consumer advocacy groups looking to eliminate the use of mercury in dental fillings.
As part of the legal settlement, the FDA must identify all potential risks of the metal fillings on its website and is re-evaluating its rule for use. A new ruling is expected in July 2009. Although a complete ban is desired by some advocates, it is more likely the new ruling will involve label warnings that caution against the use of the metal fillings in certain populations.
Consumer groups opposing the use of metal fillings claim the mercury in them can trigger medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Mercury is also linked with damage to the kidneys and the brain.
The use of mercury-based fillings, also known as amalgams, has declined over the past several years to the point that only about 30% of all fillings in 2003 were the metal type, according to the American Dental Association. Other options include gold, porcelain, resin composites, and glass cement but they are not as durable as the metal fillings and they cost more.
The FDA says metal fillings do not need to be removed but health risks should be considered before getting more.
For complete and accurate information on what mercury can do to you, see http://www.noamalgam.com.
The FDA has so far relied on the ADA for false and misleading evaluations of the literature where the credible literature, which all showed harm, was ignored and only poor quality papers which showed no risk were deemed correct and considered.
Aside from being a public health catastrophe, this has led to tremendous public contempt and distain for the medical and dental community and their regulators. The public relations problem can only be resolved by responsible action from professional societies to ban the use of significant amounts of mercury (greater than 1 mcg/day) in health care and to accurately evaluate people with chronic health problems for mercury toxicity and treat them appropriately. Details of how to do this can be found at http://www.noamalgam.com/hairtestbook.html.
While responsible action at this point in time is going to be quite painful for the health care professions, putting it off will make it far worse. Hopefully enough health care providers have the ethics and integrity to read and evaluate journal papers containing actual data (e.g. see DeSoto and Hitlan in J. Child. Neurol. Nov 2007) about the negative health effects of mercury and then advocate appropriate public policy to overcome the inevitable stonewalling and foot dragging by our bureaucratic professional organizations.
[...] has quite simply been deceived. The FDA did a complete about face recently and it now appears that silver amalgam fillings are NOT SAFE for children, young women, and anyone with a compromised immune system. Here is a list of symptoms [...]
First, let me apologize if I’m posting this in the wrong place. But I really need to know more about Mercury poisoning. In February, 2004, I began the first of two, 48 week treatments for Hepatitis C. On the first attempt, I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia, anemia and a few other sundries. This happened at week 22 of my treatment and resulted in the cessation of treatment.
Within the first month of the Hepatitis treatment, I began to experience several of the known side effects of the medications, (I was on a weekly injection of pegylated interferon and twice daily doses of an anti-viral med called Ribaviren. The majority of the side effects remained, with several continuing to increase in severity. Fevers of 103 degrees, blurred and double vision, panic/anxiety/depression, loss of memory. The second attempt at treatment had to end at week 42 due to a recurrence of pneumonia. During that round of therapy, most of the prior side effects continued to worsen. I was losing teeth. They didn’t just fall out. Rather, they broke and fell apart in pieces. This left my mouth vulnerable to mercury exposure. Since the teeth broke in pieces, there were many that remained, exposing the amalgam. I have 6 teeth remaining. They are intact right now, but I can see they are dying and my gum lines are all messed up.
I’ve searched high and low for years now, trying to put a link between interferon/Ribaviren and the symptoms I’m experiencing. The most frustrating is the memory loss. It has gotten so severe that I’m never really certain what day of the week it is, and now carry a notebook and pen with me both at home and in public. If I don’t write it down….I forget it immediately. But I’ve developed so many different problems. Problems that are not attributable to interferon or ribaviren. I’ve become isolative and paranoid. I still get my fevers of 103 degrees. I’ve lost control of my bowel and bladder functioning. When I wear shoes, the muscles on the sole of my feet and toes start to cramp up. I can’t walk and the pain persists for nearly an hour after I remove my shoes. I’ve lost the hearing in my left ear. I have toothaches where I don’t have teeth. Social Security denied my claim for SSDI. I can’t work, unless I can find something that allows me to work from home. I have been feeling like somebody pushed a “button” and my body has begun the process of shutting down.
I saw something on TV last week about Mercury…..specifically, what damage can be caused by the mercury amalgam fillings in a person’s teeth. I hopped on the internet and did some Googling. Every single symptom I am experiencing can be directly linked to mercury toxicity. Though my Primary Care Physician doubts that mercury is the culprit, (and he’s probably correct), I have to believe it’s a possibility. I may be grasping at straws, but this is the only thing that makes sense to me. However, I’m not the Doctor. And I will find out next week, once the blood work comes back, whether I’m right or wrong. Please, let me be right!
Thanks,
Jeff
Dear Jeff,
It is heartbreaking to read your story. I am very sorry to hear about the terrible side effects you’ve been experiencing, and I would like to wish you an endless amount of health, joy, and love from your friends, family, and all around you.
I am also a symptom of mercury poisoning after getting fillings in most of my teeth as a young girl. They are very dangerous, and it is my hope that dental technology allows me to truly rebuild my tooth tissue with time.
Jeff, I wish you the very best. My thoughts are with you.
Julia
there is an excellent website called mercury madness which highlights the issues and a guy called Hal Huggins has been against Mercury fillings for ~30+ years… Listen to his archived interviews on “oneradionetwork” with Patrick Timpone. John