Homeopathic Dentistry

If you are one of millions who are educating themselves on the mercury amalgam controversy and are reading up on the subject, such as my  Homeopathic and Biological Dentistry site, you are already aware of the danger of amalgam fillings in your teeth. A large portion (50%) of this amalgam is made up of mercury, which is one of the most toxic substances known. While many countries have stopped using this material to fill cavities, the American Dental Association has still not taken the step of banning the use of amalgam, even thought it certainly deserves that fate.

Use of mercury to fill cavities in your teeth reminds me of the story of Marie and Pierre Curie who discovered radioactivity. As the story goes, they discovered this substance that they showed to their friends at social gatherings. They brought a vial of that substance and – as a type of party trick – showed that you could see that vial with your eyes closed! Today we know that this was a deadly trick. This was a radio-active substance that penetrated the closed eyelids easily and, reaching the retina, caused nerves to fire which caused the impression of ‘seeing’ the source of the radiation.

Today, knowing of the deadly dangers of radioactivity we would never get the idea of bringing a vial of Radium to a party to show our friends whether they can still see it with their eyes closed – we just know better! The same has to sink in about the dangers of mercury in our mouths. The fact that it is amalgamated with some other metals does not mean that none of the mercury is released. There is in fact clear evidence that grinding your teeth or even exposure to higher temperatures causes mercury vapor to be released from the fillings.

This is a fact that a good homeopathic or biological dentist takes into consideration when removing amalgam fillings and replacing them with a composite. It is unavoidable that mercury is released when drilling out these old fillings, but with the right precautions the risk of ingesting these poisonous gases can be eliminated for the patient as well for the dentist and his assistant.

Other shortcoming of amalgam fillings include:

1. Amalgam is not bonded to the tooth structure, therefore has to be packed into undercuts which are drilled by the dentist into the tooth so the filling does not fall out. This weakens the tooth even more and causes cracks in the tooth deep inside the cavity.
2. Amalgam has widely different physical characteristics than tooth structure. Being a metal, it will contract and expand at a higher rate than the tooth structure. This constant “pumping” effect will cause the already weakened tooth walls to develop even larger cracks.
3. Since amalgam is not bonded, the microscopic gaps at the margins allow for leakage of moisture and bacteria under the filling. This over time will cause a large cavity to grow under the filling, completely undetected, until the damage is so extensive that the tooth will succumb to an expensive root canal treatment, or the walls will break off. In both cases, we are looking at extensive cost and effort to repair damage.

The following demonstrates how a state of the art dental practice, following the proper safety protocol, handles the replacement of amalgam fillings…

This mother describes the dramatic effect that the placement of two mercury amalgam filling had on her fifteen year old son KJ…

This certainly is an extreme reaction. Most dental patients with amalgam fillings will have no directly observable reactions, but maybe KJ is actually the luckier person.

Due to the strong reaction his well educated mother had to take drastic actions to save her son. Most other amalgam fillings might sit there for years and years and quietly poison the host without being noticed and connected with ailments that appear over the years.

What comes to mind is the anecdote on how to cook a frog – throw him into boiling water, he will immediate jump out and escape. But put him into cold water and slowly heat up the water to boiling, the frog will not notice the danger he is in and will end up on a plate.

Taking this story to heart might make it possible for many to reconsider the danger of the amalgam fillings they still have and that don’t seem to cause any problems. Maybe they did and still do.

Silver-amalgam fillings are made from an alloy containing 50% mercury. These are the most common fillings found around the world. Unfortunately, its physical characteristics violate many structural principles in tooth integrity.

Being an unstable metallic alloy, it is subject to corrosion.

Its excessive expansion and contraction to temperature fluctuations induces cracks within the tooth structure.

The material is not bonded to tooth structure, therefore it allows for micro leakage and decay to develop around its margins. Decay eventually creeps in under the filling and over the years spreads undetected, until a large chunk of the tooth fractures off, or a toothache develops, leading to expensive root canal therapy and crown restoration.

Its placement necessitates compaction into undercuts drilled into the inner aspects of the tooth, so it doesn’t fall out. This in itself, plus the fact that the top protective enamel covering, carefully and ingeniously engineered by nature,  is drilled away and violated,  represent a serious breach in the integrity and stability of the walls of the tooth. These walls, being subject to everyday chewing forces, will eventually chip away, develop internal cracks, or outright break apart.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3: