Mercury toxicity

  There is adequate evidence that dental amalgam restorations, during and after placement, results in the release of Hg into the patient's body. Whether the Hg released from amalgam is due to placement procedures, surface abrasion, or later corrosion breakdown, there is evidence that a low level Hg release continues for years. It is generally agreed that if amalgam was introduced today as a restorative material, they would never pass F.D.A. approval. With new and more accurate techniques of measuring Hg levels, especially in tissue and blood, additional studies are necessary to relate blood-Hg levels with dental amalgam restorations. Studies must relate existing restorations as well as the placement of new restorations to body-Hg levels. It is possible that we have accepted a potentially dangerous material as being safe.

 Mercury toxicity in the dental office: a neglected problem
Symptoms of mercury poisoning and safeguards against contamination of dental offices are given. Office conditions that led to mercury toxication in two Utah dentists are described.Safe mercury vapor levels can be maintained if good mercury hygiene is practiced in the dental office. Symptoms of mercury toxication and safeguards against contamination are listed. Although the office practices that led to mercury toxication in two Utah dentists were corrected, nearly 20 months passed before their symptoms subsided.

Your dental amalgams and mercury toxycity symptoms
Dental amalgams are 50% mercury. The mercury contained in the amalgam leaches out as a vapour into your body for the lifetime of the filling. Mercury is a highly toxic heavy metal and the mental, physical and emotional effects of mercury on the body have been well documented and known for centuries.Although you are exposed to mercury through many sources including environmental exposure, eating fish etc, the majority of mercury exposure comes from dental amalgam, the silver fillings in your teeth.Amalgam was developed over 180 years ago and has never been exposed to any meaningful safety testing. It is a mixture of 50% liquid mercury and 50% powdered metals and it never truly sets, it is in fact a stiff paste of alloys in a liquid mercury base.Mercury disrupts the biological functions of the body on a number of different levels, which means it can cause a myriad of disturbances, imbalances, illnesses and symptoms in your body.The following list provides the most recognised symptoms of mercury toxicity. For ease I have broken them down into regions of the body. This list is extensive but not exhaustive and just because you have or may have some of these symptoms it is not a diagnosis for mercury toxicity.  

The respiratory system
 Up to 80% of inhaled mercury vapour is absorbed through the lungs. From here it travels to all the other tissues and organs of the body in the circulation, but particularly concentrates within the kidney, liver and brain.The presence of mercury in the lungs causes chronic breathing disorders including:

• Asthma
• Bronchitis
• Breathlessness
• Persistent cough and
• Bad breath

Brain function
Mercury binds tightly to nerves and fats, so it is readily absorbed into the brain and nerve endings that regulate all the functions of the body. It prevents nerves regenerating and disrupts nerve function.Mercury from amalgam crosses the blood-brain barrier and can damage any part of the central nervous system including the master endocrine glands at the base of the brain which control both the nervous and hormone systems.Mercury can produce a host of mental, emotional, and behavioural changes and what are considered 'psychiatric' disorders by disrupting neurotransmitters, interfering with endocrine gland function and hormones and causing destruction of nervous pathways.The effects of mercury on brain function include:

• Poor memory
• Difficulty multitasking
• Difficulty finding words
• A lack of initiative
• An inability to concentrate
• Brain fog
• An inability to make decisions and
• Lack of motivation
• Changes in mood

Mercury is also known to have profound effects upon mood including:

• Fears
• Anxieties
• Irritability
• Fits of anger
• Panic attacks
• Mood swings
• Loss of self-confidence
• Withdrawal
• Being easily embarrassed
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Feeling easily discouraged
• A loss of sense of humour
• Life seems an endless, joyless struggle
• 'Psychiatric' symptoms

 The ability of mercury to induce 'mercury madness' is well recognised and symptoms include:

• Hallucinations
• Depression
• A persistent death wish
• Suicide attempts
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
• Manic-Depressive Disorder
• Panic disorders an
• Schizophrenia spectrum disorders
• Peripheral nervous system symptoms
• The profound disruption of nerve structure and function leads to difficulty with motor nerve function including:
• Difficulty articulating words
• Numbness and tingling
• Clumsiness
• Difficulty doing fine tasks such as typing or adding numbers on a calculator
• Tremors
• Ticks and twitches (especially of the face and eyes)
• A loss of coordination and
• Restless legs

Reproductive and sexual function
 Mercury collects in the reproductive organs where it can cause a variety of disorders including infertility.It is known to directly cross the placental barrier in pregnant women and also to concentrate in breast milk and mercury levels in newborn babies have been shown to be directly related to the number of amalgam fillings in the mother’s mouth.The symptoms of mercury toxicity in both sexes include:

• A low or non-existent libido
• Precocious or late puberty
• Infertility
• In women
• Heavy, missed or irregular periods
• Severe period pains
• Pre-menstrual tension (PMT)
• Miscarriages
• Still births
• In men
• Impotence
• Premature ejaculation
• Low sperm count, defective sperm and sperm with poor motility

• For the body, the skin is a major route of excretion and so it will try to expel mercury via the skin.
• Cold, clammy skin
• Dry skin
• Peeling or flaking skin on the hands, feet and face
• A puffy face
• Red, flaky skin around the eyes
• Thick, red skin on hands & feet
• Pricking, stabbing, fizzing or crawling sensations in the skin
• Very itchy rashes
• Eczema and psoriasis.
• Excessive perspiration
• An inability to sweat
• Night sweats.

• Loss of underarm, pubic, body or head hair
• Greying of hair
• Dry, thin, wiry, dull hair
• Weak, flaky nails that split and tear easily.

 Some of the mercury vapour from amalgam fillings adheres to the lining of the nose and sinuses from where it can be transported directly into the brain and cause the following symptoms:

• Chronic sinusitis
• Poor sense of smell
• Chronic or recurrent rhinitis
• Nasal congestion
• A persistently sore throat
• Chronic tonsillitis.

 Mercury collects within the eye balls themselves leading to the appearance of 'floaters' (dark cloudy areas), but also adversely affects the muscles controlling focussing of the eyes and lens and the sensory nerves of the retina itself leading to:

• Intermittent visual blurring
• Deteriorating peripheral vision or 'tunnel' vision
• Bulging eyes
• Sensitivity to light
• Difficulty focussing
• Poor colour vision
• Poor night vision
• Difficulty moving the eyes.

 Much of the mercury from dental amalgams is swallowed along with foods or in the saliva and the digestive system is usually one of the first areas of the body to be affected. Mercury binds with and blocks the actions of digestive enzymes leading to poor digestion and the development of food intolerances.It also alters the normal gut bacteria, favouring the overgrowth of yeasts (most commonly Candida albicans) and suppressing the growth of 'friendly' bacteria which can lead to the development of intestinal permeability or a so called 'leaky gut'.Digestive symptoms of mercury poisoning include:

• The development of food sensitivities and intolerances
• Abdominal cramps and pain
• Constipation and/or diarrhoea
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Malabsorption
• Leaky gut
• Gastroenteritis
• Nausea
• Heartburn.