Holistic Dentistry

Carlo_Gambino

Hi all,

Just thought I'd ask to see if anyone has ever used a Holistic Dentist for amalgam filling removal and if so can you give me a rough idea on price?

Thanks

brook2jack

Why one has to say, there are many many many websites that will tell you everything from x to y can be "cured" by removing amalgams and apart from some cases of lichen planus that is simply not true.

For "high end" amalgam removal with supplements given, amalgam removal with all the bangs and whistles you are looking at £140 upwards a filling , more if replaced in gold etc and thats what you really have to think about. What are the fillings going to be replaced with and what risks do they have?

Carlo_Gambino

brook2jack wrote: »

Why one has to say, there are many many many websites that will tell you everything from x to y can be "cured" by removing amalgams and apart from some cases of lichen planus that is simply not true.

For "high end" amalgam removal with supplements given, amalgam removal with all the bangs and whistles you are looking at £140 upwards a filling , more if replaced in gold etc and thats what you really have to think about. What are the fillings going to be replaced with and what risks do they have?

Hi thanks for your reply.

Fortunately for me I am not looking to be cured of anything. As I am doing a degree in science we are learning how toxic mercury is and how now modern medicine and science are starting to accept that the use of mercury in the mouths of people may not have been such a good idea. We have a lough here in Northern Ireland that is supposed to be one of the biggest in Europe called Lough Neagh - I was reading on our local paper about 3 months ago that if one, only ONE, amalgam filling was dropped into the lough it would be clossed and classed as polluted. I found this very strange reading this at a time I was learning about it so it drew my attention to it even more.

Then my cousin who is a fully qualified and practising dentist told me that there is a panel of dentists in Europe that are beginning to link various illnesses to amalgam fillings using a chart showing trends of how certain illnesses have increased in history in line with the increase in mercury fillings. He also said that in the not too distant future dentists will be forced by Europe to change to other types of fillings and the ONLY reason they are continuely used is because they are cheap.

All that aside though as soon as I learned that the above lough would be deemed "contaminated" and closed to the public simply because of one amalgam filling, that was enough for me. I have 4 and they will be coming out. My cousin is now a holistic dentist in Australia and has no idea what the cost would be here in the UK hence my reason for asking. But did confirm for me that that metallic taste you get in your mouth from time to time is the release of small amounts of vapor from the filling!!

brook2jack

Then he is wrong about the vapour, the taste is due to galvanic reactions. As to the loch being closed due to mercury that may well be because it has fish swimming in it. For most people the largest source of mercury is from fish particularly oily fish such as tuna etc. I think the paper story has as much basis in fact as the story of a reservoir in America being closed because someone wee'd in it.

Interestingly dentistry has developed as we have become industrialised and started to suffer from diseases associated with industrialisation and I am not acquainted with any peer reviewed material proving any link with any disease other than lichen planus in particular cases. Indeed many patient support groups (ms, cfs, alzheimers)over the years have had to warn patients over bogus claims that removing their fillings will cure or ease their symptoms. Dentists advocating removal of amalgam fillings for these reasons have been struck off in many countries.

Amalgam is controversial ,even amongst dentists, but the vast majority if us still have them in our mouths.

The American FDA has only recently once again reiterated there are no proven health risks with amalgam. No european country has banned it .



Interestingly bisphenol a which is a major constituent in many White filling materials has now been banned from use in baby bottles etc because of concerns over health risks. All filling materials have risks and composite (White) fillings are not risk free.

Amalgam fillings will eventually become rarer as materials continue to improve but they still have a place in clinical practice.

Research on dentists themselves who are doubly exposed by a ) having amalgam fillings and b) working with the stuff all day has never revealed lower life expectancy or increase in particular diseases except those associated with work eg bad back, dermatitis due to glove wearing etc.

If you want to be scientific then have your urine tested (York do it I think circa £30) for mercury exposure.

Carlo_Gambino

Mercury is a highly toxic chemical by any standards and any scientist or doctor will tell you that. Placing it in the mouths of human beings in a permanent fixture such as a filling is asking for trouble. The bottom line is it shouldn't be there. I place as much trust in the likes of the FDA as I do in politicians and that's zero. If there's money to made their 'opinions' or 'rulings' will will follow. The health of people and their well being has never been a concern to thelikes of big pharma - there is no money to be made with cures.

The only time in my 40 years on earth that pharma medication has entered my system was when I was a few months old since then my mother refused any vaccinations or any attempts by doctors to medicate me. I am 40 years old and have never been in hospital, never been sick (apart from common cold or tummy bug) and live a very happy and active life. I believe this is because I eat healthy and don't take medications of any description.

We all have our opinions in life and yours seems to be a trust and belief in power and authority - which is completely fine. I don't trust power and authority as it tends to follow the money and not the health of the people. But that is way off the subject.

I just don't like the fact I have these things in my mouth. Anyhow good talking with you, catch you the flip side.

Toothsmith

You're sounding a bit too much like a conspiracy theory troll to warrent any detailed answers.

I'm no huge fan of amalgam, but it does still have a place in dentistry.

I'm always amazed when people who describe themselves as 'chemists' or 'scientist' or students of such seem to have such a poor grasp of chemistry or even science.

Mercury is indeed a very toxic substance. When it is reacted with something else, like silver, it forms a compound. Compounds can have a variety of properties, depending on what actually makes them up. Some are highly toxic still, some are much more inert.

Like Chlorine. On it's own, a highly dangerous, corrosive, poisonous gas. It is a component of Phosgene - the gas used in chemical warfare in the first world war. But, mixed with sodium (Another highly dangerous element) and you have something a lot less dangerous (But still not without risk) that we all put on our chips!

If you are concerned about your amalgam fillings, then it should be no problem at all to find a dentist who will explain that although there is no known problem with amalgam, and that taking a drill to a perfectly sound filling might have consequences for the tooth - they will change the fillings.

In the same way that providing the patient accepts the possible consequences, they will change amalgam fillings for white to make thngs look better.

BUT - If you seek out a dentist who talks about how dangerous amalgam is and all the problems that it can cause and how they see it as their 'mission' to remove this poison from the population - then you're looking at someone who's just 'cashing in' on a misplaced fear.

Choose whichever one you feel most comfortable with.