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, it 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. We may 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 intoxication 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 intoxication and safeguards against contamination are listed. Although the office practices that led to mercury intoxication in two Utah dentists were corrected, nearly 20 months passed before their symptoms subsided.
Your dental amalgams and mercury toxicity symptoms
Dental amalgams are 50% mercury. The mercury contained in the amalgam leaches out as a vapor 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 a stiff paste of alloys in a liquid mercury base. Mercury disrupts the biological functions of the body on several different levels, which means it can cause a myriad of disturbances, imbalances, illnesses and symptoms in your body. The following list provides the most recognized 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 vapors are 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 from 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 behavioral changes and what is considered ‘psychiatric’ disorders by disrupting neurotransmitters, interfering with endocrine gland function and hormones, and causing the destruction of nerve 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 humor
- Life seems an endless, joyless struggle
- Psychiatric symptoms
The ability of mercury to induce ‘mercury madness’ is well recognized and symptoms include:
- Hallucinations
- Depression
- A persistent death wish
- Suicide attempts
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
- Manic-Depressive Disorder
- Panic disorder
- 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 be directly related to the number of amalgam fillings in the mother’s mouth. The symptoms of mercury toxicity in both sexes include:
- Infertility
- In women
- Heavy, regular periods
- Severe period pains
- Pre-menstrual tension(PMT)
- Miscarriages
- Stillbirths
- In men
- Impotence
- Premature ejaculation
- Low sperm count, defective sperm, and sperm with poor motility
The urinary system
Mercury from dental amalgam fillings is also recognized to severely impact kidney function such that animal studies have shown a 50% reduction within a month of placement of the first amalgam filling. Effects of mercury on the urinary system include:
- Kidney damage
- Frequent urination
- Frequent nocturnal urination ( 2-3 times a night or more)
- Incontinence(especially in women )
- Difficulty urinating ( especially in men )
- An urgent need to urinate
- A variety of kidney and bladder diseases.
The musculoskeletal system
Mercury accumulates in muscles and joints causing muscle tenderness and joint pain.
- Tender, sore muscles
- Rapid muscle fatigue
- Joint pain
- Joints welling
- Joint stiffness
- Muscle cramps
- Low-backpain
- Muscle weakness
- Jaw joint dysfunction (TMJD)
The cardiovascular system and heart
Mercury collects in the heart muscle and valves and has been found at 22,000
times the levels found in the blood. Mercury is strongly associated with elevated levels of homocysteine cholesterol and heart attacks. It also causes red blood cells to rupture and replaces the iron in hemoglobin so that the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood can be reduced by half. Mercury also
causes a weakening in the walls of the small blood vessels leading to a reduced blood supply to the organs and tissues. The cardiovascular symptoms of mercury poisoning include:
- Heart palpitations
- An irregular heartbeat
- Anginaorchestpain
- Aracingheartbeat
- Eitheranabnormallysloworrapidheartrate
- Loworhighbloodpressure
- Frequentlyfeelingfaint
- Elevatedbloodcholesterolandhomocysteinelevelsand ●
- Easybleedingandbruising.
- The endocrine hormone system
Mercury disrupts hormone production and release from the endocrine glands, and also blocks the receptors which allow the hormones to send messages to cells and organs. The endocrine system has a high requirement for specific trace minerals and accumulation of mercury within the glands may occur because of the chemical similarity to the essential mineral, zinc. Symptoms of mercury poisoning in the endocrine system include:
- Lowandpoorlycontrolledbloodsugarrespectively
- Hypothyroidism-under-active thyroid gland
- Hypoadrenalism-under-functioningadrenalglands
- Constant fatigue-adrenalandthyroidglandexhaustion
- Apoorphysiologicalresponsetostress.
The oral cavity / Mouth
Mercury also collects in very high concentrations in the jawbones and the soft tissues of the mouth. Mixing gold and amalgam restorations in the mouth increases the amount of mercury vapor given off several-fold and placing gold crowns over amalgam cores particularly drives mercury into the surrounding bone. Symptoms of mercury toxicity in the mouth include:
-
Bleeding gums
-
Periodontal(gum)disease
-
Mouth ulcers
-
Ametallictaste
-
Excessive salivation
-
Alossofthesenseoftaste
-
A burning, red, inflamed mouth
-
‘Bald’patchesonthetongueorcheeks(includes geographical
tongue)
-
Darkspotsongums(‘amalgam tattoos)
The ears: hearing and balance
Mercury accumulates in the many sensory nerves of the ear that serve the hearing
and balance. Symptoms include:
- Dizziness
- Vertigo
- Poor balance
- Tinnitus(ringingorwhiningnoisesintheears)
- Painintheearcanals
- Poorhearinganddeafness
- Difficultyinterpretingwhatyouhear.
Skin, Hair, and Nails
- For the body, the theskinisamajorrouteofexcretionandsoitwilltryto expel mercury via the skin.
- Cold, clammy skin
- Dry skin
- Peelingorflakingskinonthehands,feetandface
- Apuffyface
- Red,flakyskinaroundtheeyes
- Thick,redskinonhands&feet
- Pricking, stabbing,fizzingorcrawlingsensationsintheskin
- Veryitchyrashes
- Eczema and psoriasis.
- Excessive perspiration
- Aninabilitytosweat
- Nightsweats.
The quality of the hair and nails is also adversely affected causing:
- Lossofunderarm, pubic,bodyorheadhair
- Greyingofhair
- Dry, thin, wiry, dull hair
- Weak,flakynailsthatsplitandteareasily.
The Nose and Sinuses
Some of the mercury vapor 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
- Poorsenseofsmell
- Chronicorrecurrentrhinitis
- Nasalcongestion
- Apersistentlysorethroat
- Chronic tonsillitis.
Eyesight
Mercury collects within the eyeballs themselves leading to the appearance of ‘floaters’ (dark cloudy areas), but also adversely affects the muscles controlling focusing of the eyes and lens and the sensory nerves of the retina itself leading to:
- Intermittentvisualblurring
- Deterioratingperipheralvisionor’tunnel’vision
- Bulging eyes
- Sensitivity to light
- Difficulty focusing
- Poorcolourvision
- Poor night vision
- Difficultymovingtheeyes.
The Digestive System
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, favoring 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:
- Thedevelopmentoffoodsensitivitiesandintolerances
- Abdominalcrampsandpain
- Constipation and/or diarrhea
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Malabsorption
- Leaky gut
- Gastroenteritis
- Nausea
- Heartburn.
The immune system
The Immune SystemThe immune system is one of the first casualties of mercury toxicity. It causes a reduction in the number of natural killer (NK) cells which are responsible for policing tumors and viruses leading to the development of chronic viral infections and cancer. The effects of mercury toxicity upon the immune system include:
-
Chronic,recurrentorfrequentinfections.
-
Chronicorrecurrentyeastinfections.Mercuryactivelypromotesthe
overgrowth of yeasts such as Candida albicans causing thrush, ‘jock’
itch and athlete’s foot.
-
Thedevelopmentofallergiesandsensitivities.Mercuryaltersthe
ratios of T-helper cells to T-suppressor cells so that the immune response is turned on more readily but not terminated, leading the immune system to over-react to a wide variety of foods and chemicals.
-
Autoimmune diseases. Mercurybindstoproteinsonthesurfaceofthe cells of the body lead the immune system to identify them as being foreign and initiating one of the 100 or more autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, scleroderma, or Hashimoto thyroiditis.
-
Various cancers. Theunderminingoftheimmuneresponseandin particular the disabling of the natural killer cells leads to the development of one of the most prevalent immune deficiency diseases of all: cancer.
-
The lymphatic system works to drain and filter excess fluid from the tissues and initiate an immune response if required. The effects of mercury toxicity on the lymphatic system include:
-
Water retention ( especially of the legs )
-
Swollen lymph nodes ( especially in the neck ).
General Symptoms of Mercury Toxicity
Last, but not least, mercury particularly accumulates in the mitochondria (‘power houses’) of the cells where it poisons energy production. The presence of mercury in the circulation and the effects on energy production lead to:
-
A profound exhaustion and fatigue ( chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia)
-
Low body temperature
-
Coldhandsandfeet
-
Unexplainedchangesinweight
-
Changes in appetite
-
Excessive thirst
- Headaches and migraines
- Anaemia
- Difficultygettingtosleep
- Early waking
- Illnesses Linked With Mercury Toxicity
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic fatigue syndrome(CFS)
- Rheumatoidarthritis(RA)
- Multiple sclerosis(MS)
- Parkinson’sdisease
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Colitis
- Crohn’s disease
- Autoimmune diseases
- Attentiondeficithyperactivitydisorder(ADHD)
- Autism
- Cancer
- If you have concerns about your dental amalgams seek out a qualified and well-trained holistic dentist who understands the impact of mercury on your health.