Category Archives: Mouth

The Hidden Trigger to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s That 75% of People Carry

Posted on by
Reply

By: Dr. Mercola
Source: Mercola.com

I strongly encourage you to watch the new documentary film Mercury Undercover, which exposes just how far those in power will go to prevent you from learning the truth about mercury contamination from dental amalgam—all in the name of money.

Dental amalgam is a primitive, pre-Civil War product that is 50 percent mercury, still commonly used in dental fillings.

Half of all North American dentists still use amalgam for its quick and easy profits, then pass the bill for damages on to the rest of us—damages to health, as well as to the environment.

Mercury Undercover discusses the mountain of evidence about mercury contamination, as reported by doctors, scientists, environmental experts and mercury-poisoned survivors.

The disturbing issues brought to light in this film will make you think twice before ordering a “catch-of-the-day” or planning your next dental procedure.

American dentistry’s 150-year affair with mercury is a tale of profits first, people last.

Coal Plants and Dentists May be Accelerating Wildlife Extinctions

Coal generates 54 percent of the electricity in the United States and is the single largest cause of air pollution. Coal fired power plants are also the number one source of environmental mercury pollution. Mercury is extremely tenacious once in the air, water and soil, and levels gradually increase over time, as it accumulates.

Each coal plant discharges an average of 170 pounds of mercury into the air each year, along with other pollutants. There are about 600 coal plants in the United States. So, if you do the math, you will discover that coal plants in the U.S. are releasing about 51 TONS of mercury into the environment each year. Just one gram of mercury can make the fish in a 20-acre lake unfit for consumption for a year.

A study by Island Restoration Network found dangerous mercury levels in 68 percent of swordfish, high enough to cause harm to wildlife. Recent evidence indicates mercury is now present in all fish. Other studies have demonstrated high levels of mercury in sensitive and endangered species across marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems, indicating that mercury pollution may be a significant factor in species population reduction.

The second largest mercury polluters in this country are dental practices. As a result of their continued use of mercury amalgam fillings, another 29.7 tons of mercury is discharged into the air, water and soil each year from installation and removal of amalgams.

Don’t let the “cheap” price of these fillings fool you. When environmental cleanup costs are included, dental amalgams are actually the most expensive type of dental fillings on the market. Besides its toxic effects to wildlife, mercury is terribly harmful to humans as well.

“A Biochemical Train Wreck in Your Body”

Boyd Haley PhD, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at University of Kentucky, said in the film that mercury is a “biochemical train wreck in your body.” Mercury causes your cell membranes to become leaky and inhibits key enzymes your body needs for energy production and toxin removal. Mercury doesn’t kill you quickly like cyanide… it kills you slowly and insidiously.

About 75 percent of adults have dangerous “silver” fillings. There is approximately 1,000 mg of mercury in the typical “silver” filling.  This is nearly one million times more mercury than is present in contaminated sea food. Most people don’t realize that the mercury amalgams slowly release mercury vapor. Every time you chew, mercury vapor is released and quickly finds its way into your bloodstream, where it causes oxidative processes in your tissues.

Oxidation is one of the main reasons you develop disease, as well as the primary reason you age. Oxidation in your body leads to inflammation, including inflammation of the lining of your blood vessels. When this occurs, your LDL levels increase as your body attempts to “patch” those damaged vessel walls with cholesterol. LDL is a carrier of cholesterol.This is why people with mercury toxicity have damaged blood vessels, and elevated cholesterol and LDL levels.

However, oxidation and toxicity can lead to much more than just elevated lipid levels. Mercury in your body can result in a variety of serious neurological, immunological, and endocrinological problems.  Mercury not only fuels the flames of inflammation, it also hampers your body’s ability to detoxify itself, which makes you even sicker. Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological diseases have been linked to mercury exposure. Research shows that traces of mercury can cause the type of nerve damage you usually see in Alzheimer’s disease.

Mercury is MORE Toxic to Your Body than Any Other Heavy Metal

Recent studies of the effects of various toxic heavy metals on your brain—including aluminum, lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury—reveal that mercury is by far the MOST toxic. No others even come close! This is because of mercury’s interaction with sulfur-containing proteins that are critical to your brain function.

Many scientists believe Alzheimer’s impairs communication and coordination between cells. You have 100 billion nerve cells, or neurons, in your brain, and these neurons make up an intricate communication/information network that requires a great deal of energy and waste removal. These processes require a large amount of fuel and oxygen. Mercury can seriously impair these important and complex neurological processes.

Science is now telling us that mercury may very well be a significant factor underlying much chronic disease, and one about which the majority of physicians are completely unaware. It doesn’t take much mercury to cause significant stresses in your body.

Sadly, many people with mercury toxicity are sick for MANY years, often decades, and have consulted dozens of physicians who fail to identify the real cause of their illness and suffering. Often these people have a constellation of seemingly unrelated symptoms. They are given bottle after bottle of pills, which merely mask some of the symptoms (at best) and create new imbalances within their bodies,without ever addressing the underlying cause of the problem. Not surprisingly, they fail to get better.

Can you get sick from just ONE mercury filling? Absolutely.

Even if you have only one, you’re getting years of daily “dosing” mercury vapor from that filling, which adds to the other sources of mercury and other toxic substances to which you are regularly exposed. Once your immune system takes any sort of a hit from an illness or stress or trauma, it may no longer be able to keep up with the assault of ongoing mercury exposure.

Mercury Vapor Sneaks its Way from Your Tooth to Your Brain

Mercury vapor is the form of mercury most easily absorbed by your body. Sadly, dentists are still taught in dental school that the mercury in amalgams is “bound” with the other metals and doesn’t leak, which is why half of them still believe it’s safe. Yet, you can MEASURE the mercury vapor coming off the tip of the root of an amalgam-filled tooth.  The fact that mercury vapor can be measured at the tip of a tooth’s root is absolute proof that these amalgam fillings can and DO leak.

Once released from an amalgam-filled tooth, mercury in the form of nonreactive mercury vapor goes from your mouth to your lungs, then to your brain via your bloodstream. A common enzyme in your body called catalase converts (oxidizes) mercury vapor into the “Hg2plus” form, which is VERY toxic, and traps it inside your cells. Once here, it is very difficult for your body to remove it.

Experts say the mercury from amalgam is highly absorbed and gets into all parts of your body, including your brain and bone marrow. Every time you chew, mercury vapor is being liberated from those fillings and absorbed, potentially causing your health to decline over time.

Why is this Toxic Product STILL on the American Market?

Amalgam fillings contain more mercury than any other product sold in America. And they are highly profitable to dentists, which makes them that much harder to remove from the marketplace. Dentists can install amalgam fillings much faster than the primary alternative, which is composite fillings. Wherever healthcare budgets are tight, people in need of fillings are given amalgams. Low-income people, people in third-world countries, and even our soldiers get mercury fillings—even the pregnant ones—because they “cost less” to install. But with all that is known about the dangers of amalgam, why hasn’t it been removed from the market altogether?

What is the political pressure that stands in the way? This is a very good question, and one that has NOT been answered by the FDA, according to Charlie Brown, founder of Consumers for Dental Choice. Charlie Brown has been a champion in the battle to get mercury banned from dentistry.

The FDA Monarchy Wants to Keep You Sick

The FDA Commissioner is described in the film as, essentially, a 15th Century monarch with absolute power—there is no other power within FDA to check her judgment. She is the ultimate decision maker. Therefore, there is no protection for the public. Tragically, the FDA has ignored the advice of their own scientists and established no labeling to warn consumers—including pregnant women and children—about the dangers of mercury amalgams.

The drug industry, which largely controls both medical and dental industries, has spent one billion dollars lobbying the government over the last decade—100 million dollars per year on average. One could rightfully suspect these influences have stood in the way of progress in the battle against dental amalgam.

Many members of Congress protect their reelection first, before protecting public health, afraid to take any corrective actions that would buck the system for fear of stepping on some “very big toes.” They don’t want to offend the medical establishment because that would injure their campaign funding. The United States falls behind many other countries on the mercury issue. Amalgams have been banned in several countries, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, and largely in Japan.

The Mercury Undercover page suggests the following specific goals and objectives that need to be addressed in the overall mercury plan:

  • Disclose mercury and end the “silver deception”; stop the ADA/dental board gag rule
  • Inform consumers and dentists of the massive environmental harm caused by amalgam
  • Make dentists pay for the massive harm to the environment; this would make the amalgam cost-prohibitive
  • Ban amalgam for children and pregnant women
  • Introduce ART (Atraumatic restorative treatment), a safe, low-cost dental filling material that requires only hand instruments to install, and can even be done by a dental hygienist
  • End amalgam primacy in insurance plans

How Does Your Dentist Respond to the M-Word?

Half of all dentists in North America have broken away from the pack and stopped using amalgam, but we have not yet reached the tipping point for the other half to follow suit. Most dentists who continue to use amalgam really don’t understand that what they’re doing is harmful.  Dentists don’t want to fathom that they’ve ever done anything to hurt their patients, or question the training they worked so hard to get.

We have made a fundamental mistake—one of many—in our healthcare system by teaching physicians and dentists that it’s not safe to think outside the box. Meaning, they fear attack by government, insurance companies, lawyers, and their own medical boards if they don’t stick to a one-size-fits-all approach to treatment. And that type of fear-based practice can lead to inappropriate and poor standards of care.

If your dentist refuses to abandon his or her use of amalgam, you may want to consider consulting another dentist. There are a growing number of mercury-free dentists, and dentists who offer a more holistic or “biological” approach.

There’s nothing that has the potential to release more mercury vapor directly into your body than removing an amalgam filling, which is why you should never have your amalgam removed by a dentist who hasn’t been expertly trained in this procedure. It requires isolation of the mercury-filled tooth from the rest of the oral cavity using a rubber dam, as well as vacuums in and around the mouth to capture mercury while the extraction is taking place.

Important Information Regarding Amalgam Removal

For those of you who have mercury fillings, I recommend that you have them removed … but avoid making the mistake I did nearly 20 years ago by having it done by a non-biological dentist. When you have these fillings removed you can be exposed to significant amounts of mercury vapors if the dentist doesn’t know what he or she is doing. It’s also for this reason that I strongly suggest you get healthy BEFORE having your fillings removed, as you want your detoxification mechanisms optimized prior to removal.

My struggles with my own teeth led me to learn about and embrace biological dentistry, also known as holistic or environmental dentistry. In a nutshell, biological dentistry views your teeth and gums as an integrated part of your entire body, and any medical treatments performed takes this fact into account. The primary aim of holistic dentistry is to resolve your dental problems while working in harmony with the rest of your body.. Biological dentists are well aware of the dangers involved with toxic materials such as mercury fillings (aka amalgams). Some things that need to be done to keep you (and your dentist) safe during amalgam removal include:

  • Providing you with an alternative air source and instructing you not to breath through your mouth
  • Using a cold-water spray to minimize mercury vapors
  • Putting a rubber dam in your mouth so you don’t swallow or inhale any toxins
  • Using a high-volume evacuator near the tooth at all times to evacuate the mercury vapor
  • Washing your mouth out immediately after the fillings have been removed (the dentist should also change gloves after the removal)
  • Immediately cleaning your protective wear and face once the fillings are removed
  • Using room air purifiers

How to Find a Qualified Biological Dentist

Knowledgeable biological dentists can be hard to come by, so start your search by asking a friend, relative, neighbor, or inquire at your local health food store. The following links can also help you to find a mercury-free, biological dentist:

To view the original article click here.
To reprint this article, visit the source website for reprinting guidelines

Never Do This with Your Teeth – No Matter How “Safe” They Say It Is

Posted on by

By: Dr. Mercola
Source: Mercola.com

After enormous public pressure from scientists, dentists, health professionals, and consumers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) promised to make an announcement about dental amalgam by the end of 2011.

Dental amalgam, of course, is composed 50% of the dreadful neurotoxin mercury.

Jeffrey Shuren, director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH, the branch of the FDA responsible for the approval and safety of all medical devises) said at a public hearing in September, in San Francisco, that FDA will make an “announcement” on a new amalgam policy  by the end of 2011.

When questioned by a reporter at a major newspaper, FDA repeated that it would act in 2011.

As 2011 came to a close, the suspense grew as everyone speculated whether FDA would act or whether it would continue its decades of protecting the profits of pro-mercury dentists instead of protecting the health of American children.

With just six minutes left in the work year, at 4:54 pm on Friday, December 30, FDA conceded that no announcement was forthcoming – not in 2011, and maybe not at all.

In that midnight statement, one FDA press person, one Karen Jackler, said that another FDA press person, Morgan Liscinsky, would answer questions about amalgam.

So when the respected trade publication FDA Webview asked, Liscinsky said:  No announcement.

And no target date for FDA to do anything on amalgam.

Instead, FDA said what it said ten years ago: it will “continue to study the safety of amalgam.”

FDA has broken yet another promise on amalgam.

Why Won’t the FDA Act to Protect You Against Toxic Mercury?

The FDA’s history of protecting dental amalgam is a long one.

For the past 32 years, the agency has refused to issue any public warning about its neurotoxic risks, and in 2009, the FDA declared it safe under Class 2 for adults and children over the age of 6 who are not allergic to mercury—despite the overwhelming evidence showing mercury to be highly toxic and easily released in the form of vapor each time you eat, drink, brush your teeth or otherwise stimulate your teeth.

These mercury vapors readily pass through cell membranes, across your blood-brain barrier, and into your central nervous system, where it can cause psychological, neurological, and immunological problems.

Children and fetuses, whose brains are still developing, are clearly most at risk, but anyone can be impacted, and the health risks get greater the longer you have your fillings.

According to Boyd Haley, retired professor emeritus at the University of Kentucky (where he headed the chemistry department), about 80 percent of the mercury vapor released from your fillings collect in your body tissues and can take months or years to eliminate. Needless to say, if your body keeps accumulating more mercury than it can eliminate, after many years of chronic exposure you may end up with quite a bit of accumulated mercury in your body. Studies on cadavers have confirmed that the more amalgam fillings a person has, the more mercury collects in their brain, for example.

World Health Organization Urges Phasing Out of Dental Amalgam

Many hoped that the FDA would reconsider this foolish stance after the World Health Organization called for the phasing-out of amalgam in their 2011 report: Future Use of Materials for Dental Restoration. In May 2011, the Council of Europe also issued a proclamation calling for restrictions and prohibitions of mercury fillings, which are already banned in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Health Canada also stopped endorsing amalgam for use in children, pregnant women, and people with impaired kidney function, all the way back in 1996!

The World Health Organization noted the following three reasons for its new position:

  1. Amalgam releases a “significant amount of mercury” into the environment, including the atmosphere, surface water, groundwater, and soil. WHO reports:“When released from dental amalgam use into the environment through these pathways, mercury is transported globally and deposited. Mercury releases may then enter the human food chain especially via fish consumption.”
  2. WHO determines that amalgam raises “general health concerns”: While the report acknowledges that a few dental trade groups still believe amalgam is safe for all, the WHO report reaches a very different conclusion: “Amalgam has been associated with general health concerns.” The report observes:“According to the Norwegian Dental Biomaterials Adverse Reaction Unit, the majority of cases of side-effects of dental filling materials are linked with dental amalgam.”
  3. WHO concludes “materials alternative to dental amalgam are available” and cites studies indicating they are superior to amalgam. For example, WHO says “recent data suggest that RBCs [resin-based composites] perform equally well” as amalgam. And compomers have a higher survival rate, says WHO, citing a study finding that 95% of compomers and 92% of amalgams survive after 4 years.In particular, WHO explains that “Alternative restorative materials of sufficient quality are available for use in the deciduous [baby] dentition of children” – the population whose developing neurological systems are most susceptible to the neurotoxic effects of dental mercury. Perhaps more important than the survival of the filling, WHO asserts that:

    “Adhesive resin materials allow for less tooth destruction and, as a result, a longer survival of the tooth itself.”

The report also included mention of the known toxic effects of mercury exposure, stating that:

“Mercury is highly toxic and harmful to health. Approximately 80% of inhaled mercury vapor is absorbed in the blood through the lungs, causing damages to lungs, kidneys and the nervous, digestive, respiratory and immune systems. Health effects from excessive mercury exposure include tremors, impaired vision and hearing, paralysis, insomnia, emotional instability, developmental deficits during fetal development, and attention deficit and developmental delays during childhood.”

Why Does the FDA Ignore its Own Experts?

In December 2010, in response to the outrage over their 2009 ruling, the FDA asked an advisory panel to examine the latest science on amalgams. The panel recommended that the FDA promptly:

  • Make sure that all consumers and all parents know that amalgam is mainly mercury
  • Stop amalgam use for children and pregnant women

Still, the agency hesitated… Then, last year Shuren attended a series of town hall meetings around the US, where he heard so much criticism against the agency’s amalgam policy that he eventually started saying the agency would act on the petitions to reconsider its position. As recently as November 30, the FDA confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that it did indeed intend to address amalgam in 2011, stating that:

” … in response to concerns about its [2009] ruling, the FDA convened a panel last December to re-examine the issue and expects to make a new announcement by the end of this year.”

But, it didn’t… According to Charlie Brown, national counsel for Consumers for Dental Choice, and President of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry:

“At Jeff Shuren’s Center for Devices, politics wins. Science loses. Thirteen months ago, FDA’s own advisory panel of handpicked scientists told FDA to stop amalgam use for children and pregnant women. But Shuren fails to heed the scientists — even though, since September, he repeatedly announced that he intended to act on amalgam in 2011. Every day that Shuren fails to act, more children are subjected to this mercury product, which — FDA’s own rule concedes — can have ‘neurotoxic effects’ on the ‘developing neurological systems’ of children and unborn babies.”

No One NEEDS Amalgam to Remain Available…

Dental amalgam is far from an essential dental product; it’s interchangeable with many other filling materials that do not have the toxic profile amalgam has. Just consider these disturbing facts:

  • Amalgam is the MOST EXPENSIVE dental material when you count environmental costs and clean-up costs.
  • Amalgam is the number one cause of mercury exposure for consumers, according to the Canadian government and other sources.
  • Mercury from dental offices is the largest source of mercury in wastewater. According to an article by Michael Bender (co-founder of the Mercury Policy Project), at least 40 percent of mercury flowing into municipal water treatment plants begins in dentist offices. And those plants are not set up to remove it, so it ends up in your fish.
  • Americans and Europeans have more mercury in their mouths than exists in all products combined—more than 1,000 tons.
  • Amalgams of the dead pose a risk to the living. Emissions from the combustion of mercury fillings during cremation are a significant contaminator of air, waterways, soil, wildlife and food. Seven to nine metric tons of mercury per year escapes into the atmosphere during cremations, and it is estimated that, left unchecked, crematoria will be the largest single cause of mercury pollution by 2020.

Modern materials like resin composites and glass ionomers have rendered amalgam completely unnecessary for any clinical situation. In fact, the mercury-free alternatives are so advanced that entire nations, such as the Scandinavian countries, have stopped using amalgam altogether.

Already, about half of U.S. dentists are mercury-free and 77 percent of consumers who are told that amalgam contains mercury choose mercury-free alternatives. One of the most popular alternatives to amalgam is resin composite. Resin composites are made of a type of plastic reinforced with powdered glass. It is already common throughout the U.S. and the rest of the developed world, offering notable improvements over amalgam, as it:

  • Is environmentally safe: Composite, which contains no mercury, does not pollute the environment. This saves taxpayers from paying the costs of cleaning up dental mercury pollution in our water, air, and land – and the costs of health problems associated with mercury pollution.
  • Preserves healthy tooth structure, because, unlike amalgam, it does not require the removal of significant amounts of healthy tooth matter. Over the long term, composite preserves healthy tooth structure and actually strengthens teeth, leading to better oral health and less extensive dental work over the long-term.
  • Is long-lasting: While some claim that amalgam fillings last longer than composite fillings, the science reveals this claim to be baseless. The latest studies show that composite not only lasts as long as amalgam, but actually has a higher overall survival rate.

A lesser-known alternative is increasingly making mercury-free dentistry possible even in the rural areas of developing countries. Atraumatic restorative treatment (also called alternative restorative treatment or ART) is a mercury-free restorative technique that has been demonstrated a success in a diverse array of countries around the world, including Tanzania, India, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Turkey, South Africa, Thailand, Canada, and a dozen others. ART relies on adhesive materials for the filling (instead of mercury) and uses only hand instruments to place the filling, making it particularly well-suited for rural areas of developing countries.

To view the original article click here.
To reprint this article, visit the source website for reprinting guidelines

Toxic Enough to Require Haz-Mat Transport… Yet Safe for You and Your Children?

Posted on by

By: Dr. Mercola
Source: Mercola.com 

The World Health Organization (WHO) released its final report on dental amalgam, and has taken a stance against the use of mercury in dentistry — a move that could signal the beginning of the end for this toxic, outdated practice.

In their report, Future Use of Materials for Dental Restoration, WHO committed itself “to work for reduction of mercury and … facilitate the work for a switch in use of dental materials.”

The report states that amalgam “has been associated with general health concerns” and releases a “significant amount of mercury” into the environment.

It also notes that alternatives to amalgam are readily available.

WHO Finally Takes Stance Against Dental Mercury

The final WHO report urges “a switch in use of dental materials” away from amalgam.As reported by Charlie Brown, director of Consumers for Dental Choice,”[F]or many reasons,” WHO explains, “restorative materials alternative to dental amalgam are desirable.” As Consumers for Dental Choice, which was founded by Bob Jones and Sue Ann Taylor, reported, WHO noted the following three reasons for the new position:

  1. Amalgam releases a “significant amount of mercury” into the environment, including the atmosphere, surface water, groundwater, and soil. WHO reports: “When released from dental amalgam use into the environment through these pathways, mercury is transported globally and deposited. Mercury releases may then enter the human food chain especially via fish consumption.”
  2. WHO determines that amalgam raises “general health concerns”: While the report acknowledges that a few dental trade groups still believe amalgam is safe for all, the WHO report reaches a very different conclusion: “Amalgam has been associated with general health concerns.” The report observes: “According to the Norwegian Dental Biomaterials Adverse Reaction Unit, the majority of cases of side-effects of dental filling materials are linked with dental amalgam.”
  3. WHO concludes “materials alternative to dental amalgam are available” and cites studies indicating they are superior to amalgam. For example, WHO says “recent data suggest that RBCs [resin-based composites] perform equally well” as amalgam. And compomers have a higher survival rate, says WHO, citing a study finding that 95% of compomers and 92% of amalgams survive after 4 years.In particular, WHO explains that “Alternative restorative materials of sufficient quality are available for use in the deciduous [baby] dentition of children” – the population whose developing neurological systems are most susceptible to the neurotoxic effects of dental mercury. Perhaps more important than the survival of the filling, WHO asserts that: “Adhesive resin materials allow for less tooth destruction and, as a result, a longer survival of the tooth itself.”

The report also included mention of the known toxic effects of mercury exposure, stating:

“Mercury is highly toxic and harmful to health. Approximately 80% of inhaled mercury vapor is absorbed in the blood through the lungs, causing damages to lungs, kidneys and the nervous, digestive, respiratory and immune systems. Health effects from excessive mercury exposure include tremors, impaired vision and hearing, paralysis, insomnia, emotional instability, developmental deficits during fetal development, and attention deficit and developmental delays during childhood.”

This is the latest revelation in a string of positive progress that has been made this year toward ridding the dental industry of dangerous mercury-containing amalgams.

Will FDA Have Dentists Warn about Dental Amalgams?

As a result of enormous public pressure from dentists, health professionals and consumers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also promised to make an announcement by year’s end about dental amalgam. While the agency is being vague about the substance of this announcement, it is known that FDA is currently reconsidering whether or not to warn the public of the dangers of dental amalgam, and possibly even restrict its use.

As the Chicago Tribune reported:

” … in response to concerns about its ruling, the FDA convened a panel last December to re-examine the issue and expects to make a new announcement by the end of this year.”

A series of grassroots protests, petitions, and town meetings in three states this year hosted by the FDA’s Center for Devices has resulted in the FDA’s reconsideration of its appalling 2009 amalgam rule.

Thanks to Consumers for Dental Choice, town meetings previously attended mostly by industry representatives pleading with the FDA to “go easier on them” are now instead being dominated by consumer advocates demanding government accountability. Their greatest hope is to see mercury amalgams banned altogether, but short of that, Consumers for Dental Choice hopes the FDA will at least make all consumers aware that amalgams are more than 50 percent mercury.

The American Dental Association (ADA) has historically covered up that fact, and, as the 1990 60 Minutes video above noted, even at one time declared that removing mercury fillings is unethical — despite the known fact that dental amalgam emits mercury vapor after it is implanted in your mouth, and this mercury is bioaccumulative and endangers your health in many ways.

Incidentally, the ADA also takes money from Coca-Cola and other companies whose products promote the formation of cavities. But the tide is certainly changing, as evidenced further by the FDA’s December 2010 hearings, which included two days of testimony that were alternatively scientific and emotional. The results were utterly convincing, even to scientists handpicked by FDA. With no dissent, they recommended that FDA promptly:

  • Make sure that all consumers and all parents know that amalgam is mainly mercury
  • Stop amalgam use for children and pregnant women

As panelist Dr. Suresh Kotagal – a pediatric neurologist at the Mayo Clinic – summed it up, there is “no place for mercury in children.”

Unprecedented press coverage accompanied these hearings, with every network and most major newspapers writing stories that FDA is determining the health risk of amalgam. Fifty percent of dentists are now mercury-free; you can help abolish the use of mercury fillings by supporting one of them. We are on the brink of prompting real change in the fight for mercury-free dentistry, as the FDA is set to make an announcement on mercury fillings by the end of 2011.

Other Countries Take Stance to Protect Against Mercury Fillings

The FDA panelists are not alone in their assertion that amalgam should no longer be used for children and pregnant women. Other countries are already working to protect vulnerable populations, especially children, from exposure to amalgam.

For example:

  • The 47 nations of the Council of Europe passed a resolution calling on the nations to start “restricting or prohibiting the use of amalgams as dental fillings,” explaining that “amalgams are the prime source of exposure to mercury for developed countries, also affecting embryos, fetuses (through the placenta) and children (through breastfeeding).Exposure to mercury can seriously affect the health of both patients and dental professionals, and early exposure to low doses of mercury (during pregnancy and through breastfeeding) increases the risk of a decrease in the intelligence quotient (IQ) among children.… According to the World Health Organization in 2005, certain studies show that mercury may have no threshold below which some adverse effects do not occur.”
  • Australia’s National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) says amalgam should be avoided in pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, and people with kidney disease. As the government of the state of Queensland explained:“Amalgam is now generally avoided for filling children’s teeth. Growing children tend to be more sensitive to the effects of exposure to any chemical substance in their environment… High level exposure to mercury (which is present in silver fillings) may affect the kidneys. Therefore, the NHMRC, suggest people with kidney disease may be more concerned than others to minimize exposure to mercury.”
  • Health Canada directed its dentists to stop using amalgam in children, pregnant women, and people with impaired kidney function – way back in 1996.

Mercury Filling Health Risks in a Nutshell

The metallic mercury used by dentists to manufacture dental amalgam is shipped as a hazardous material to the dental office. Any amalgam leftover is also treated as hazardous and requires special precautions to dispose of, as it should because it can cause wide-ranging damage to your health.

Charlie Brown states:

” … mercury is a reproductive toxin. Meaning, of course, it can harm your unborn baby. It’s a neurotoxin meaning it can harm your brain. It’s a nephrotoxin meaning it will harm your kidneys. There is no safe level of mercury. This dentist is playing Russian roulette with your child or you if he or she is giving you a mercury filling.”

Virtually any kind of stimulation can cause these fillings to release mercury. Eating, drinking, brushing your teeth, grinding your teeth, chewing gum, anything. If you want to see the vapors released for yourself, watch the shocking video below.

Mercury vapor from the amalgams passes readily through cell membranes, across the blood-brain barrier, and into your central nervous system, where it causes psychological, neurological, and immunological problems. Children and fetuses, whose brains are still developing, are most at risk, but really anyone can be impacted.

Further, dental mercury is the number one source of mercury in our wastewater, so dentists are handing the clean-up bill for their pollution to taxpayers and water ratepayers. And this mercury ends up in your food supply, where it can cause continued damage to your health if you eat fish and other contaminated seafood.

Alternatives are Readily Available … and Desired by Most Americans

Far from being an essential dental product with no viable alternatives, amalgam is interchangeable with many other filling materials, as WHO noted — including resin composites and glass ionomers — which have rendered amalgam completely unnecessary for any clinical situation. In fact, the mercury-free alternatives are so advanced that entire nations, such as the Scandinavian countries, have stopped the use of amalgam. Already, about half of U.S. dentists are mercury-free and 77 percent of consumers who are told that amalgam contains mercury choose mercury-free alternatives.

One of the most popular alternatives to amalgam is resin composite. Resin composite is made of a type of plastic reinforced with powdered glass. It is already common throughout the U.S. and the rest of the developed world, offering notable improvements over amalgam, as it:

  • Is environmentally safe: Composite, which contains no mercury, does not pollute the environment. This saves taxpayers from paying the costs of cleaning up dental mercury pollution in our water, air, and land – and the costs of health problems associated with mercury pollution.
  • Preserves healthy tooth structure, because, unlike amalgam, it does not require the removal of significant amounts of healthy tooth matter. Over the long term, composite preserves healthy tooth structure and actually strengthens teeth, leading to better oral health and less extensive dental work over the long-term.
  • Is long-lasting: While some claim that amalgam fillings last longer than composite fillings, the science reveals this claim to be baseless. The latest studies show that composite not only lasts as long as amalgam, but actually has a higher overall survival rate.

A lesser-known alternative is increasingly making mercury-free dentistry possible even in the rural areas of developing countries. Atraumatic restorative treatment (also called alternative restorative treatment or ART) is a mercury-free restorative technique that has been demonstrated a success in a diverse array of countries around the world, including Tanzania, India, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Turkey, South Africa, Thailand, Canada, Panama, Ecuador, Syria, Hong Kong, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Chile, Nigeria, China, Uruguay, Peru, and the United States.

ART relies on adhesive materials for the filling (instead of mercury) and uses only hand instruments to place the filling, making it particularly well-suited for rural areas of developing countries.

How to Have Amalgam Fillings Properly Removed

It should be clear that there’s simply no such thing as a safe mercury filling. However, please do NOT make the mistake of having your amalgam fillings removed by a dentist who is not properly trained in safe amalgam removal. Doing so could expose you to tremendous health risks, due to the large amounts of mercury vapor being released during the removal process. Research has shown that if you do not take proper safety precautions during the removal process, mercury levels in your blood can rise three to four-fold, which may result in acute toxicity.

SO PLEASE …

Make sure to use a so-called biological dentist that is trained in properly removing mercury fillings. Some things that need to be done to keep you (and your dentist) safe during the procedure include:

  • Providing you with an alternative air source and instructing you not to breathe through your mouth
  • Using a cold-water spray to minimize mercury vapors
  • Putting a rubber dam in your mouth so you don’t swallow or inhale any toxins
  • Using a high-volume evacuator near the tooth at all times to evacuate the mercury vapor
  • Washing your mouth out immediately after the fillings have been removed (the dentist should also change gloves after the removal)
  • Immediately cleaning your protective wear and face once the fillings are removed
  • Using room air purifiers

For a complete description of how to safely remove mercury amalgam, see this PDF created by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT). The proper procedure is also explained in the featured video. Here are several sources to help you locate a dentist trained in biological dentistry:

  • Consumers for Dental Choice’s Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry
  • IAOMT’s database
  • International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine
  • The Holistic Dental Association

Avoid making the same mistake I did 20 years ago when I had all my amalgams removed by a competent dentist. Unfortunately, he was clueless about mercury toxicity and used no precautions and as a result I got kidney damage. Additionally, I had to remove all the crowns he put in because they were metal. It was a very expensive and health-damaging mistake.

I also suggest you get healthy BEFORE having your fillings removed, as you want your detoxification mechanisms optimized prior to removal. To remove mercury that has already accumulated in your body, I highly recommend reviewing my Mercury Detoxification Protocol, which details the things you can do right now to help rid your body of this toxin. If your mercury levels are seriously elevated, you should work with a knowledgeable health care practitioner to help you through the detoxification process.

Help Keep the Ball Rolling to Get Mercury Out of the Dentist’s Office

Your voice is needed in order to bring about permanent change in the fight for mercury-free dentistry. We need to keep the momentum going between now and year’s end. You must urge the FDA to heed the advice of its own scientists convened in December 2010 and the World Health Organization. To voice your opinion, contact Dr. Shuren at:

Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, Director
Center for Devices, U.S. Food & Drug Administration
10903 New Hampshire Ave.
WO66-5431, Room 5442
Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002
Phone: 301-796-5900
Fax: 301-847-8149 or 301-847-8109
Email: jeff.shuren@fda.hhs.gov

The following are Charlie Brown’s recommended talking points for this contact:

  • Thank Dr. Shurenfor agreeing to act on amalgam fillings this year.
  • Please end the use of amalgam immediately for children, pregnant women, and hypersensitive adults (as a minimum).
  • Please make sure every parent knows amalgam is mercury, not silver, by making warnings mandatory. Every consumer should be told the truth about what’s going into their mouths, and their children’s mouths.
  • Please follow WHO’s lead and act now. In its 2011 report, the World Health Organization calls on health authorities like FDA to take action now: “Health authorities can play an active role in advocacy for use of dental materials alternative to amalgam.” It is time for FDA to act now, NOT an announcement that the FDA’s decision will be postponed. We have irrefutable scientific evidence about the dangers of mercury amalgams. Your children are being subjected to harm now—they can’t wait another year.

I also urge you to contribute to Consumers for Dental Choice. I strongly believe in their mission and their commitment to the Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry. They rely on public donations to complete this important mission. (Consumers for Dental Choice is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to advocating mercury-free dentistry. Contributions are tax-deductible in the U.S.)

Donations can be made online or through the mail:

  • Online donations: http://www.toxicteeth.org/donate.cfm
  • Checks can be mailed to:Consumers for Dental Choice
    316 F St., N.E.,
    Suite 210
    Washington DC 20002

Also, for timely updates and information, please join Consumers for Dental Choice on Facebook.

Thank you for your help in keeping the ball rolling—help make 2011 a landmark year for your dental health!

To view the original article click here.
To reprint this article, visit the source website for reprinting guidelines

Teens Keep Dying While Getting Wisdom Teeth Removed by Overzealous Oral Surgeons

Posted on by

By: Ethan A. Huff
Source: NaturalNews.com

It is a common procedure that roughly five million Americans undergo every single year, according to ABC News, but people need to understand the serious risks involved. Two teenagers recently died due to complications involved with having their wisdom teeth surgically extracted. Jenny Olenick, a 17-year-old girl from Maryland died while her surgery was taking place, and 14-year-old Ben Ellis from Georgia died just one day after his surgery.

In Olenick’s case, her parents claim Dr. Domenick Coletti, the oral surgeon, and Dr. Krista Michelle Isaacs, the anesthesiologist, failed to properly monitor the girl after giving her anesthesia. Her heart rate and blood oxygen levels both quickly dropped to fatally low levels, according to reports, which led to her sudden death.

In Ellis’ case, the boy was simply found dead the day after his surgery. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is reportedly still looking into his situation to determine the precise cause of death, but WSBTV 2 in Atlanta says Ellis appeared fine all throughout the day following his procedure. But after he took one penicillin tablet and one oxycodone tablet that evening, as instructed, his parents found him dead the following day.

Though a routine surgery for many Americans, wisdom tooth extraction carries with it very serious risks which, as illustrated in both of the aforementioned cases, include sudden death. More common risks include permanent nerve damage that can affect the tongue, lips, and cheeks. In fact, more than 11,000 people every year sustain such permanent nerve damage following wisdom tooth extraction, according to a 2007 report published in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH).

“Third-molar surgery is a multibillion-dollar industry that generates significant income for the dental profession,” said Jay Friedman, a California-based dental consultant, in the AJPH report concerning the $3 billion a year the dental industry generates from wisdom tooth extraction surgeries. “It is driven by misinformation and myths that have been exposed before but that continue to be promulgated by the profession.”

One such myth, of course, is that wisdom tooth extraction is necessary to “prevent future problems and to ensure optimal healing,” a claim that is still made by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Friedman says that more than two-thirds of all wisdom tooth extractions are medically unnecessary, and that most patients would be perfectly fine if they just left their wisdom teeth alone.

To view the original article click here.
To reprint this article, visit the source website for reprinting guidelines

Metal Fillings – A Ticking Time Bomb In The Mouth?

Posted on by

By Andreas Moritz 

Harmful metals in the mouth

Metal dental ware is a constant source of poisoning and allergic reaction in the body (especially to milk and its products). All metal corrodes in time, especially in the mouth where there is a high concentration of air and moisture. Among other harmful metals, amalgam fillings contain the extremely toxic mercury.Mercury makes up 50 percent of the filling! Their vapors are being released into the lungs through inhalation and enter the digestive system while eating and drinking. When they enter the blood and lymph, they can cause considerable damage in the body, including the nervous system. Recently, researchers produced a special video that showed constant mercury vapor escaping from the mouths of people with metal fillings in their teeth. That’s not very nice, if you are into kissing.

In Germany, a federal law passed in the mid-90s prohibits dentists to give mercury fillings to their patients. For the same reason, most North-European countries have limited the use of amalgam, and Sweden, Spain, Austria, and Denmark, among others, also banned this product in the year 2000. The amalgam compounds are so toxic that dentists are instructed not to touch amalgam with bare hands and store excess amalgam in tightly sealed containers. If it is so dangerous to touch amalgam, it certainly is dangerous to keep it in the mouth 24 hours a day, year after year, or get it injected in the blood with the flu vaccine!

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a report showing that mercury absorbed from amalgam fillings is up to ten times higher than mercury absorbed from environmental and dietary sources. It is noteworthy to point out that patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Alzheimer’sdisease have up to ten times the normal mercury levels in their brains. Post-mortem studies show that the mercury level in some organs is directly proportional to the number of amalgam fillings in a diseased person.

The most vulnerable of all to mercury poisoning seems to be the developing fetus in pregnant women. A fetus accumulates more mercury than even the mother does, and in amounts directly proportional to the number of her amalgam fillings. [For the same reason, pregnant women should avoid tuna, salmon and other mercury-containing fish]

The gradual, continuous release of mercury and other toxic metals into the body by metal fillings affects particularly the liver, kidneys, lungs and brain. Cadmium, for example, which is used to produce the pink color in dentures, is five times as toxic as lead. It does not take much of this metal to raise the blood pressure to abnormal levels. Yet how many people are aware that they are developing a heart condition as a result of the dental fillings in their mouth?

Thallium,which is also found in mercury amalgam fillings, causes leg pain and paraplegia. It affects the nervous system, skin, and cardiovascular system. All wheelchair patients who have been tested for metal poisoning tested positive for thallium. Many people, who were in a wheelchair several years after they received metal fillings, completely recovered once all metal had been removed from the mouth. Thallium is lethal at a dose of 0.5-1.0 gram.

Other metals contained in dental fillings are known for their cancer-producing (carcinogenic) effects. These include nickel, which is used in gold crowns, braces and children’s crowns. Also chromium is extremely carcinogenic. All metals corrode, (including gold, silver and platinum) and the body absorbs it. Women with breast cancer have accumulated large amounts of dissolved metals in their breasts. When the mouth is cleared of all metals, they will also leave the breasts and the metal-caused cysts will shrink and disappear by themselves. Yeast infections often improve quickly after removal of metal fillings. Some people report complete relief of prostate problems as well as nose and sinus congestion.

Porcelain can be toxic, too. It is made of aluminum oxide, with other metals added. The body’s immune system naturally responds to the presence of toxic metals in the body and eventually develops allergic reactions which may show up as a sinus condition, ringing in the ears, enlarged neck and glands, bloating, enlarged spleen, arthritic symptoms, headaches and migraine, eye diseases, and more serious complications such as paralysis or heart attacks.

Composites

Although metal toxicity may not be the only cause for these conditions, replacing all metal fillings with composites certainly assists your immune system in its effort to protect your body against disease. A composite filling is one that is primarily non-metallic. There are a large variety of materials used in composite fillings, but some metals may be present. Ordinary composites are not suitable for large cavities. Whenever used for large cavities, they tend to last no more than five or six years. Indirect composites, on the other hand, can be placed in large cavities. They can even be used in place of gold crowns. They look like a real tooth and last as long as gold. If selected properly, indirect composites are quite non-allergenic and non-toxic. They are fairly new and can be as expensive as gold fillings, but they can save you a lot of trouble and money in the long-term. Since many dentists don’t know how to place them properly, you may need to do a bit of research to find an experienced mercury-free dentist who also works with indirect composites. The fillings should be replaced cautiously and gradually, one or two (if small ones) at a time. It is best not to replace metal fillings more often than once every two months.

Preventing Heavy Metal Toxicity

If you decide to replace your amalgam fillings, make certain that your dentist provides for protection (through a special plastic device) against the inhalation and absorption of the generated amalgam dust. Otherwise, you may end up suffering severe migraine attacks, memory loss, weakening of eyesight, etc. Before attempting to have any larger fillings removed you may need to take selenium (if possible in ionic form) for one to two months. Eat more foods that contain Vitamin C, such as the super grain chia, or red-colored fruits and vegetables, for about ten days. Use cilantro leaves and green leafy vegetables in every main meal to help clear mercury and other metal deposits from the body. Drinking several cups of Pau d’Arco (Lapacho) tea per day, or taking four capsules of its extract three times daily for two weeks may greatly assist you in the detoxification of the blood, liver and kidneys. The kidney cleanse is also very beneficial in preventing injuries from any released metals. The native American tea formula, Ojibwa tea, is also excellent for metal removal. It contains large amounts of vitamins.

——————————
This is an excerpt from my book TIMELESS SECRETS OF HEALTH & REJUVENATION

——————————
You may share or republish this article provided you clearly mention the name of Andreas Moritz and paste a hyperlink back to the web page

How to Heal Gingivitis

Posted on by

How to heal gingivitis

Gingivitis or gum disease is a not necessarily localized. It starts off somewhere else and typically depends on where the tooth is located or the area of inflammation is found. It shows that there is a need for bacterial activity in that area that causes the infection and the reason is that, there are dead cells or damaged or weak cells that are pretty much poisoned by chemical substances, waste matter that is not readily removed from the area of the teeth or gums.

And if there is any inflammation in a section, part of the gastrointestinal tract, then you will have this same occurrence somewhere in the mouth. The mouth and the gastrointestinal tract are connected. There is, for every tooth, there is a corresponding area in the gastrointestinal track and so, if there is, for example, an inflammation in the ascending colon somewhere where the appendix is, you will have some inflation in the middle to the back section of the mouth in the gums or teeth. So, we have thirty-two teeth and each tooth relates to a vertebra of the spine so, they are all interconnected, if anything is happening in a part of the body that connects to the teeth then you can expect some inflammatory process going on in that part of the tooth of part of the mouth.

So, I would suggest instead of only focusing on, trying to get rid of the bacteria in that part, you want to create a condition that these bacteria are no longer needed. Bacteria are not out enemies. They are there to break down damaged or weak cells that are no longer suitable for the body… they are no longer doing a good job. They are pretty much useless and therefore bacteria come in to infect them and destroy them. So they are doing the job that the body is not capable of doing itself, given the circumstances which are congestion in the gastro-intestinal track, poor liver functions, if there is any problem with the frontal teeth, you can expect an issue with the kidneys where the kidneys are not removing certain waste products like uric acid, which then forms crystals or stones, that causes backing up of certain toxins that go all the way up to that particular part of the teeth and they can cause damage to the gums there or to the tooth itself.

So having said that, I would recommend cleaning out the liver, the kidneys and the large intestine and making changes to the diet so you do not have decomposing foods sitting in the intestines for long periods of time that, for example meat decays very easily, typically a person can only digest a small fraction of the amount of the meat because of lack of high concentration of hydrochloric acid, so, if a person, if you ate a steak you can only digest up to twenty percent of that, the rest of it will become decomposed, that will eventually cause inflammation or irritation in the lower intestines where the decomposition takes place. The bacteria that decompose, they produce toxins and the toxins can then accumulate in the corresponding part of the mouth, the gums, and create a inflammatory condition there as well.

So, “TIMELESS SECRETS OF HEALTH AND REJUVENATION” may give you some clues as to how to address the underlying conditions. Always good to go to the root causes of these issues rather than trying to fix the symptoms and having gingivitis is just a symptom of an underlying condition.

Thank you.

——————————
You may share or republish this article provided you clearly mention the name of Andreas Moritz and paste a hyper link back to the web page

Disorders of the Mouth

Posted on by

By Andreas Moritz 

Gallstones in the liver and gallbladder can be held responsible for most diseases of the mouth. The stones interfere with the digestion and absorption of food, which in turn forces waste products meant for elimination to remain in the intestinal tract. Bacterial infection (thrush) and viral infection (herpes) in the mouth arise only when waste decomposes and becomes a source of toxicity in the body. The trapped toxins constantly irritate parts of the gastro-intestinal lining (which begins in the mouth and ends in the anus) until inflammation or ulceration occurs. The damaged cell tissue ‘invites’ more microbes to the scene of the injury to help clean up of cellular debris. This is a normal phenomenon seen everywhere in nature whenever there is something that needs to be decomposed.

Bacteria never attack, that is, infect something that is as clean, vital and healthy as a fruit hanging on a tree. Only when the fruit becomes overripe or falls to the ground do bacteria begin their clean-up job. The moment bacteria begin to decompose food or flesh, toxins are generated. These toxins can be recognized by their unpleasant odor and acidic nature. If they are generated in the body, it is only natural that symptoms of illness begin to show up.

Thrush indicates the presence of large quantities of bacteria that have spread throughout the gastro-intestinal tract, including the mouth area. It shows up in the mouth because the mucous lining there is no longer resistant enough to keep its cells in good physical shape. Since the main part of the immune system is located in the mucous lining of the gastro-intestinal tract, thrush indicates a major weakness in the body’s general immunity to disease.

Herpes, which is considered a viral disease, is similar to thrush, with the exception that, instead of bacteria attacking the cell exterior, viral materials attack the cell interior or nucleus. In both cases, the attackers target only weak and unhealthy cells, those that are already damaged or dysfunctional. Added to this dilemma, gallstones harbor plenty of bacteria and viruses, which escape the liver via the secreted bile and infect those parts of the body that have the least resistance to them.

Gallstones can lead to other problems in the mouth. They inhibit proper bile secretion, which in turn reduces appetite and secretion of saliva from the salivary glands in the mouth. Saliva is required to cleanse the mouth and keep its tissues soft and pliable. If there is not enough saliva present, destructive bacteria begin to invade the mouth cavity. This can lead to tooth decay and other tooth-related problems. But, once again, bacteria do not cause tooth decay; germs are attracted only to those areas in the mouth that are undernourished and toxic already.

A bitter taste in the mouth is caused by bile that has regurgitated into the stomach and, from there, into the mouth. This condition occurs because of major intestinal congestion. Instead of properly moving downward, parts of the intestinal content are backed up and bring gas and other irritating substances into the upper regions of the gastro-intestinal tract. Bile in the mouth drastically alters the pH-value (acid-alkalinity balance) of saliva, which impairs its cleansing properties and makes the mouth susceptible to infection.

A mouth ulcer in the lower lip indicates a simultaneous inflammatory process in the large intestine. Repeated occurrence of ulcers in either one of the corners of the mouth points to the presence of duodenal ulcers (see section on Disorders of the Stomach). Tongue ulcers, depending on their location, indicate inflammatory processes in corresponding areas of the alimentary canal, such as the stomach, small intestine, appendix or large intestine.

——————————
You may share or republish this article provided you clearly mention the name of Andreas Moritz and paste a hyper link back to the web page