Dennis J. Courtney

Introduction To Your Fillings
by Hal A. Huggins, DDS MS

If you are like most Americans, or most people in the world for that matter, you probably have mercury fillings in your mouth. Mercury fillings, also known as "silver fillings" or "amalgam" fillings, are the most common fillings in the world. Called silver because of their color, they actually contain from 45% to 52% mercury, copper, tin, silver and zinc make up the remaining volume.

There is much discussion in the dental profession today about the safety of mercury containing fillings. This is not new. The dental association of 1840 actually destroyed itself over the same argument. At that same time members of the association who PLACED mercury were expelled from membership. Today members who even TALK against mercury run the possibility of not just expulsion, but of having the American Dental Association (ADA - the political lobbying arm of dentistry) put pressure on state regulatory agencies to remove the license of any dentist who mentions mercury might be toxic. The ADA even calls it "unethical" to inform patients of the potential dangers of the most hazardous natural metal known to mankind.

Arguments are probably more emotional today than they were in the 1800's for several reasons. Today more people actually have mercury fillings. According to the ADA at least 85% of the American population have fillings, and not only that, most people have over 10 of these fillings in their mouths. Another good reason for concern is that for the past 15 years the most popular mercury filling has been the "high copper" amalgam that boasts 30% copper. Scientific studies have proven that the new high copper fillings release mercury (and copper) at a rate of 50 times faster than the pre-1980 amalgams.

The pro-mercury group has a big concern too. Liability lawsuits have been settling in the millions of dollars. Manufacturers have increased their liability insurance by 10 - fold since 1984 when the biggest exposure of mercury hazard was presented directly to the ADA, National Institutes of Health, and FDA simultaneously.

Anti-mercury doctors have pointed out the tremendous increase in what are called "autoimmune diseases" in the last couple of decades. Autoimmune diseases are disease in which the cells of ones immune system start destroying ones won tissues. Examples of autoimmune disease are, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus erythematosus, Diabetes, Arthritis, Lou Gehrig's disease, and of course, AIDS.

Autoimmune diseases, when related to dental mercury, can be explained in the following manner. The white blood cells (lymphocytes) of the immune system have a special team called the surveillance cells. They wander around the body checking every single cell of your body several times each day. If your tissue cells have your individual personal code on them, they are called "self" cells, and the surveillance cells go on to check other cells. Should an atom of mercury, or copper, or nickel, or any of the toxic dental materials become lodged in one of your cells, the surveillance cell yells, "NON-self" and other white blood cells instantly destroy the non-self cell. Yes, that's all it takes to create an autoimmune disease. Your body cells find a just slightly altered cell, then more and more of them, and pretty soon a whole tissue is damaged to the point of being non-functional. If a nerve cell is involved (myelin in particular) then the process is called Multiple Sclerosis. If enough pancreas cells are destroyed, then your disease is called diabetes, etc., throughout the body as your genetically weak cells allow an intrusion of a toxic metal.

For decades the ADA has steadfastly stated that mercury was tightly bound within amalgam and could not possibly get out. Chemists and toxicologists, on the other hand, point out that when multiple metals are coated with a solution that conducts electricity (saliva being an excellent example) that not only is electricity generated, but metal ions -- especially mercury -- are liberated from the surface of the metal compound. They point out that even industrial meters held over a filling for 10 seconds can register levels higher that the EPA allows us to be exposed to for a few hours a day. Fillings, of course, emit this mercury vapor 24-hours per day. It tends to accumulate within your body, for we humans do not have a good mechanism for eliminating this toxic material.

Yielding to scientific pressures, the ADA lobby now admits that mercury, prior to placement into a tooth is hazardous. They tell the dentists to use a NO-TOUCH technique, because the dentists and their personnel might become contaminated. They admit that the "scrap" amalgam -- the excess amalgam left over after filling your tooth -- also constitutes hazardous waste. Should a filling be replaced, the amalgam removed from your tooth should be treated as hazardous waste, but during the time that the mercury is in your mouth, it is perfectly safe. Scientists say this is a ridiculous statement that is in total violation of science and common sense.

If mercury is so dangerous, shouldn't we all run out and have our fillings removed? The answer is a great big NO! That may come as a surprise, but it is as safe as jumping out of an airplane when your watch says it is time to be at your destination.

Removing, and just as important, replacing fillings, is a good way to create damage to your body that might not have happened otherwise. Pain, discomfort and generation of disease are easy to come by if fillings are randomly removed and replaced. These statements are made as a result of observing hundreds of patients that we treated incompletely when we started amalgam removal. We have also listened to the 20 or so patients daily who call t say that they rushed out, had their fillings replaced, and are now in worse shape than they have ever been. Why does this happen? Some of the reasons are now obvious scientifically, and others are still elusive in reason, but obvious in real life.

Compatibility -- or rather a lack of compatibility of the new filling -- is probably the most common cause of patients becoming ill after amalgam removal. The components of amalgam, such as, mercury, copper, tin , zinc and sliver, each can have a detrimental effect upon your immune system. This is reason enough to have them removed. BUT -- may of the replacement materials can be almost as damaging to your immune system. It doesn't take much background in chemistry to hear words like formaldehyde, hydroquinone, phenol, nickel, beryllium, styrene, strontium, toluene, urethane and xylene to decide that these materials may not be compatible to your immune system. They don't even sound compatible.

If you replace one toxic material with another, your immune system may react in an entirely different way, and present you with some brand new disease condition. Blood tests are available today to help you and your dentist determine which filling materials would be best suited for your body in order to avoid the "frying pan into the fire syndrome"

Your immune system also has cycles of activity that respond negatively should you violate them. If you have mercury removed on Monday, the following Monday your white blood cells are being traded in for new ones, and there is a period of reduced immune protection. Should you experience another exposure to mercury by having fillings removed on that day, you may experience the sensations of having a really bad case of the flu for a day. If his exposure occurs on day 21 from having your original exposure, then if your body has a specific weak link for a "hereditary" disease, it is quite easy for that disease to obtain a foothold on your health for years to come. Sound dangerous? Unfortunately it is. Your body must be treated properly in these events when you are trying to do the best thing for it.

The order in which the old fillings are removed is another thing that can create more hazards than health. Fore some reason, accepted, but not totally clear, your body responds to the removal of the fillings according to their electrical charge. Fillings are like little batteries, and they generate electrical current. Some will read positive, sand some negative when touched with an ammeter. This is similar to the test you do in a drug store when purchasing a battery for a toy. You place a probe on each end of the battery and the meter gives you a positive or negative reading along with a measure of the intensity of the charge. Evidently whether the filling is pushing electrons from the filling up into the brain, or pushing protons makes a difference to the body's own electrical system when these fillings are removed. It's rather complex, but there is a proper order to removing the fillings if one wants to have them removed without making them feel ill as a result of the process.

Another irritant to your immune system is the chemical challenge from dead teeth. Most of these are called root canal teeth, for they have had the nerve removed from their center. Chemical testing from a government research laboratory in Canada has shown that a toxic substance is formed within the root proper of a dead or root canaled tooth. This substance migrates to the outside of the root to where the tooth and bone meet. Autoimmune responses can occur as a result of this chemical flowing into your blood stream. This basic concept was understood by the head of research of the dental association for several decades. Organized dentistry has resisted the evidence that dead teeth endanger the health of the people who have had them placed. Considering that dentistry in the United States alone places over 20 million per year, it is easy to see the economic and legal implications of blowing the whistle on such a practice. For people who have serious disease, they are rarely hesitant to exchange these teeth for better health. It should probably be a personal decision for the patient, and not a routine procedure to either place root canals or remove them. The proper procedure is probably "informed consent". Let the doctor and patient examine the patients' symptoms, chemistries, and options, and allow the patient to be involved in the decision whether to keep a dead tooth in their body or not.

After removal of all immune offending substances and replacement with more compatible substances, the process of healing begins. We offer our patients a diet based on their personal blood chemistries to provide the best raw materials for rebuilding damaged tissues. Detoxification by seberal mena bay be important for as long as a year after the offending materials are removed, because these toxins have a tendency to be stored in the body until some particular situation occurs to kick them out. Intravenous procedures are good for some conditions, drugs known to remove heavy metal are good for others, and sometimes simple things like hot baths will cause the body to release heavy metals in the bath tub to the point that they can be scraped off the tub itself.

Whatever you decide, become educated by reading books on dental material toxicity, talk with a physician or dentist trained in these procedures, or go to the library and read on toxicity from the scientific standpoint. Any of these things will better prepare you, but whatever you do, don't just rush right out and have your fillings removed. There are two ways to do it. Fast and right!

An Introduction to the Mercury Amalgam Controversy
by Jeff Clark

(mercury amalam chunk recovered
after service in a human mouth)

Mercury amalgam dental fillings are typically 50% mercury and a varying mix of silver, copper, tin and zinc. Metallurgically these metals form a solid solution of room temperature metal alloy phases and metallic mercury. Metallic mercury vapor constantly expresses out of this solution and into the tooth, jaw, body, breath, blood and brain of the person bearing them. Chewing, eating and drinking hot foods and beverages increases the rate at which mercury vapor leaves the mercury-amalgam mixture and enters the mouth, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, bloodstream, brain and tissues of the person who's teeth are implanted with mercury amalgam dental fillings. Ionic mercury is released from the mercury-alloy phases of silver, copper, zinc and tin as shiny mercury-amalgam dental fillings corrode and blacken in the mouth -- causing mercury ions to continually travel through the teeth, jaw, blood and gastrointestinal tract of the people who have mercury amalgam dental fillings implanted in their teeth. Mercury is well known to be poisonous as both metallic vapor and as mercuric ions.

The mercury-amalgam controversy is centered on the question of the long term safety of mercury-amalgam dental fillings implanted in the mouth's of dental consumers due to the mercury they are constantly releasing.

Dentists continue to use mercury-amalgam to putty tooth holes because it is easy to work physically and is a very inexpensive material for them to purchase. Over time most dentists have come to rely upon placing mercury-amalgam dental fillings as the mainstay of their economic enterprise. Insurance companies use the mercury-amalgam dental filling as the standard dental restoration for basing their reimbursement schedule -- all other types of dental restorations cost more and often receive only enough reimbursement to cover the cost of a mercury-amalgam dental filling -- leaving the consumer to accept mercury-amalgam or make up the difference with additional money from outside of their dental coverage.

Mercury-amalgam has never been scientifically proven to be safe for human implantation, and is "grandfathered" into use by a 150+ year history starting before the US Civil War -- a time when mercury pills were also being given to treat syphillis. The dental associatons have twisted this hereditary status into insisting the burden of proof for mercury-amalgam safety be placed on those who question the wisdom of installing slow-release mercury implants into people's teeth.

We take great exception to the state dental board gag rules posing as "ethics rules" which disallow a dentist from having an open and frank discussion about the mercury toxicity concerns that go along with mercury-amalgam dental fillings. These rules prohibit the dentist from even the simple action of proactively informing dental consumers about the mercury content of mercury-amalgam dental fillings. This is a clear violation of the dentist's right to free speech under the first amendment of the constitution of the United States of America and the state constitutions.

Further, the American Dental Association has committed and is committing fraud by not readily disclosing to consumers the mercury content of mercury-amalgam fillings and by insisting dentists instead hide the fact by calling them "silver".

People who question the wisdom and safety of installing slow-release mercury implants into the mouths of unsuspecting dental consumers are often derided by the dental associations as "anti-amalgamists". We are indeed against the deceitful use of mercury on unsuspecting dental consumers by dentists we the dental consumer public has been taught to trust. We are however a very positive group working for the common good, we are for the following:

- Truth in representation. A dental filling that has more mercury than any other ingredient is a MERCURY filling, not a "silver" filling. Each and every consumer needs to be told this basic fact each and every time they are sitting in the dental chair and the dentist is contemplating installing such a dental filling.

- Freedom of choice. A dentist who cannot in good conscience place a well known toxin into people's mouths has the right to not do so and instead use the many alternative dental materials that do not contain mercury. Dental consumers have the right to demand and receive dental insurance coverage with the same out of pocket cost for fillings that do not contain poisonous mercury.

- Free speech. A dentist has the right to explain how he/she understands dental issues to relate to general health whether it is an abscessed tooth or mercury leaching from dental fillings.

- A healthy future for our families and our citizenry. Chronic diseases are rampant and increasing among us, including: chronic fatigue syndrome, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, irritable bowel syndrome, lupus, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, muscular dystrophy, Lou Gehrig's disease, heart disease, hypertension, depression, asthma, migraine headaches and more. By now there are many credible accounts stretching all the way back to the times of first use of mercury amalgam as dental fillings where people have "miraculously" recovered from persistent disease conditions primarily by the safe removal of mercury-amalgam dental fillings from their teeth and mouths.

People have a right to know, and to say NO to mercury-amalgam dental fillings.

Join us in the fight for a mercury free future for our children, families, friends and nation.

Rep. Diane Watson Introduces Bill To End Use Of Mercury In Dental Fillings

Los Angeles, CA, November 5, 2001 -- Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) announced today that she is introducing a bill that will warn consumers about the risks of Mercury in dental fillings and phase out the use of Mercury in dentistry over five years.

The bill is the first legislation on the federal level to address the issue of Mercury in dental fillings. So-called "silver" fillings are composed mainly of Mercury, a highly toxic material. California and several other states have recently enacted laws that address the health risks of Mercury.

"Today, I am announcing legislation to disclose and phase-out the last major use of Mercury in the human body," said Congresswoman Watson. "The fillings that most of us know as 'silver' are mainly composed of Mercury, not silver. Mercury is an acute neuro-toxin. It is the most toxic non-radioactive element and the most volatile heavy metal. It's time to remove Mercury from the practice of dentistry."

"It is no longer a question of if, but when, Mercury dental fillings will be history," said Charles G. Brown, the former West Virginia state Attorney General and lead attorney in the national fight to end the use of Mercury in dentistry. "Mercury has been -- or is being -- removed from all other health care uses, including in thermometers, vaccines and disinfectants. It is politically and medically untenable to be removing Mercury from all other medical uses and at the same time continuing to place it in peoples' mouths."

"I know from first hand experience the effect that Mercury fillings can have on one's health" said Anita Vazquez-Tibau, a Consumers for Dental Choice activist. "The medical risks -- particularly to pregnant women and children -- are great, and we must stop the use of Mercury in the dental profession as soon as possible."

Also speaking at the press conference were Suzanne Michel of Clean Water Action (see attached statement); Dr. George E. Schuchard, DDS of Beverly Hills, representing the American Academy of Biological Dentistry; and Dr. Donald Ware, MD.

Congresswoman Watson has a long record of working for disclosure of the risks of Mercury-based dental fillings. While a California State Senator in 1992, Rep. Watson authored a first-of-its-kind law that required the state Dental Board to issue a "Fact Sheet" on the risks of Mercury. Similar laws have since been adopted in Arizona and Maine.

In California over the past six months, the issue of Mercury-based dental fillings has become a subject of major controversy. In June, consumer groups filed suit against the American and California Dental Associations for deceptively calling mercury-based fillings "silver" and for secretly accepting payments from Mercury amalgam manufacturers while endorsing their product as safe.

In September the California Legislature voted to abolish the Dental Board and replace it with an entirely new Board, largely because of its refusal for nearly ten years to adopt a Fact Sheet that properly warned consumers of the dangers of Mercury fillings. Governor Davis signed the bill into law earlier this month (along with a bill outlawing Mercury thermometers), saying "Mercury is a persistent and toxic pollutant that bioaccumulates in the environment."

Background on the Dangers of Mercury and the Controversy about Mercury in Dentistry

"Mercury is a persistent and toxic pollutant that bioaccumulates in the environment."
Governor Gray Davis
October 10, 2001 press release on signing anti-Mercury legislation

"Mercury, a metallic chemical that is liquid at ordinary temperatures, has been linked to several cognitive and developmental ailments in the brain, spinal cord, kidneys, liver and lungs. It is especially damaging to young children and to fetuses. After mercury is vaporized in incinerators or dumped in sewage-treatment plants, it often gathers in bodies of water, where fish ingest it. People can be poisoned when they eat fish contaminated with mercury... Perhaps the most pervasive use of mercury is in the amalgam of metals used in most dental fillings."
"Bill Seeks to Ban Use of Mercury In a Variety of Common Products"
James C. McKinley Jr.
The New York Times, February 7, 2001

Mercury is universally recognized as an extremely dangerous toxin. So- called "silver" fillings are really @50% Mercury and only @25% silver. The amount of Mercury in one filling is colossal by scientific standards. One filling contains 750 milligrams of Mercury, enough to contaminate a small lake. The rest of the medical world is eliminating the use of Mercury in all other circumstances.

Mercury has been determined by the state of California to be a reproductive toxin (Prop. 65). It poses a particular risk to children and pregnant women, as well as other subpopulations (e.g. people with kidney disease or those who wear braces). A 1999 government report (by the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry of the United States Public Health Service) says that the Mercury vapors from fillings go to the brain, which puts a child's developing brain at the most risk. The report further states that the Mercury goes through the placenta into the developing embryo and that it goes through the mother's breast milk into the baby.

Poor people are also at greater risk because state and federal medical insurance programs only pay for Mercury amalgam fillings because they are less expensive than other fillings.

While the American Dental Association still supports using Mercury fillings (and in fact receives a fee from Mercury amalgam manufacturers for endorsing their product), there is increasing opposition to the continued use of Mercury among dentists and other dental professionals. For example, smaller groups such as the Carmel-based American Academy of Biological Dentistry and the Orlando based International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology support an end to Mercury amalgam.

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