Oral Lichens Plantus Whitish sores in the mouth, known as lichens plantus can become cancerous in the mouth. Mercury must be removed to correct the problem. In this article a few of the people did not improve. Other base metals, such as nickel, should also be removed. Nickel also causes cancer. Compare this article with the research of Mats Hanson, PhD. who states that the patch test is worthless. Dr. Hanson states that all metal must be removed including gold crowns over top of amalgam fillings. Maybe this could account for the fact that not all of these patients improved. (The link to what Dr. Hansen said had to be removed as the www.testfoundation site of Dr. Boyd Haley is down due to hackers.) This article is from the British Journal of Dermatology. Oral lichenoid reactions associated with amalgam: improvement after amalgam removal. British Journal of Dermatology The majority of patients with oral lichenoid reactions associated with dental amalgam benefit from the removal of the amalgam. This is true regardless if results are positive with amalgam or inorganic mercury. These were the findings of Dr. A. Dunsche and colleagues of the Departments of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Dermatology, University of Kiel, Germany. The researchers undertook a study of 134 patients with 467 oral lichenoid reactions. One hundred and fifty nine biopsies from lesions of oral lichenoid reaction were compared with 47 oral lichen planus lesions from edentulous (toothless) patients without amalgam exposure. Patch testing with an amalgam series was carried out in 119 patients. In 105 patients, the amalgam fillings were removed regardless of the patch test results (357 of the 467 lesions) and 29 patients refused removal and were used as a control group. The patients were re-examined within three years. The lesions in the group with oral lichenoid reactions could not be distinguished from those seen in the oral lichen planus group. A positive patch test to inorganic mercury or amalgam was shown by 33 patients (27.7%). The removal of the amalgam produced benefit in 102 out of 105 patients (97.1%). Of these, 31 (29.5%) were completely cured. Two hundred and thirteen out of 357 lesions (59.7%) cleared after removal of amalgam, whereas 65 (18.2%) did not. In the patients who refused to have their amalgam removed, only 2 out of 29 (6.9%) showed an improvement. The researchers found that amalgam removal had the strongest impact on lesions of the tongue. It had very little impact on intraoral lesions in patients with cutaneous lichen planus compared with patients without cutaneous lesions. Dr Dunsche concluded, "We suggest that the removal of amalgam fillings can be recommended in all patients with symptomatic oral lichenoid reactions associated with amalgam fillings if no cutaneous lichen planus is present." Br J Dermatol 2003 Jan;148:1:70-6. "Oral lichenoid reactions associated with amalgam: improvement after amalgam removal." Back to Symptoms of Chronic Mercury Toxicity Back to Mercury Poisoned main page