Dental Fillings: New Findings Call For A Change

Key Meyer lost 60 lbs when she developed food allergies about a decade ago

. She couldn't seem to think clearly, as she suffered from fatigue and pounding headaches on a daily basis. Mayer wasn't overly sure what had made her sick, but she did have a suspicion that it was mercury - she not only ate a ton of fish, but, she worked as a dental assistant who handled mercury on a daily basis. She also had a number of dental fillings herself, which contained about 50% mercury.

After undergoing a medical exam, doctors found elevated levels of mercury in the 65 year old by testing her blood, hair, and urine. When asked about her experience, Mayer stated that "it was determined that a combination of all three of those things led me to have pretty high elevation of mercury in my system and organs and blood stream, which caused a myriad of health problems including fatigue, brain fog, inflammation throughout my body particularly in my digestive system and bladder. I was diagnosed with high mercury elevation. Eventually, I found a dentist in Skowhegan who over several months very carefully removed all my fillings. Over time, my symptoms got better - some of them went away."

More than half of Maine dentist have stopped using fillings that are mercury based as of today; this, due to health and cosmetic reasons, says Matt Prindiville of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Now, filling materials are a basic composite of tooth colored resins. Original amalgam fillings, which are made up of mercury and other metals, are seemingly being replaced according to Frances Miliano, the Director of the Maine Dental Association.

When asked about the old style fillings, Prindiville said "over half of the dentists offices in Maine no longer use mercury ... mostly it's consumer driven. We're moving closer to not using (amalgam fillings), and in all probability, in the next decade, we're not going to be putting mercury in people's teeth anymore."

The US government, however, doesn't see things this way. They feel that the amalgam mercury fillings are still safe to use. Amalgam is a less expensive way to fill teeth, and is very durable. When questioned on price, Miliano stated "I've heard composite fillings may be as much as 50 to 80 percent more, although we don't track what dental offices charge." She went on to say that a lot of people are using the fillings for aesthetic reasons "...choosing to use the composite type of materials even for the back teeth. There certainly is a gradual decrease as composite fillings get better and easier to use. They are more expensive, but are usually covered to some degree by insurance companies."

by: Paul Guenther

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