People Just Love Their Dentists Ever since I was mercury poisoned by my dentist last year, I have been warning everyone I come in contact with about the dangerous things going on in dentists' offices. But people love their dentists! I liked my dentist too. He was kind and gentle. My family and I have been going to him for years. He gave my daughter a contribution when she went on a missionary trip. And he only put white fillings in the mouths of my two daughters. Praise the Lord! However, with my husband and me, that is another story. When we came to my dentist, we were already loaded up with mercury. So when he replaced a filling he would put back a "silver" filling, or amalgam, which actually contained 50% mercury. (He did give me one white filling on a front tooth.) I kept seeing this word amalgam on my dental bills, but I didn't actually know what it was. I just knew it had something to do with fillings. And I had heard of mercury fillings before, and I heard somewhere that mercury could be dangerous, but somehow I was not sure whether I had mercury or not. And you know what? I'm generally such an inquisitive person, but on this issue, I didn't even look up the word "amalgam" in the dictionary! Until I was mercury poisoned I wasn't reading health articles on the Internet. In fact, I don't even remember what I used to read on the Internet. But I liked my dentist and I went back to him whenever my periodontist thought that I might have a cavity. I really wasn't going to my general dentist very often because the periodontist's office was doing all the cleaning of my teeth. I never suspected that the reason I was having to make expensive trips to the periodontist's office in the first place, was because the mercury in my teeth, along with the bacteria, was helping to inflame my gums and cause periodontal disease. Hanging on the periodontist's wall was a sign that said, "Floss only the teeth you want to keep." But I liked my dentist, and I liked my periodontist too. When I tell people that my dentist poisoned me, they say, "Who was he?" I say, "It doesn't matter who he was. Your dentist is probably doing the same thing to you." Then they say, "Oh, I have a wonderful dentist. I have been going to him for years." What they really should be saying is, "I like my dentist's 'chairside' manner and his wit and friendliness." They have no idea whether he is doing a good job or not because most people don't know what constitutes good and safe dentistry. We just trust our dentists because we like them. When I tell people that if they ask their dentists about this mercury issue that he probably will not tell them the truth, people respond, "Oh, my dentist is a Christian. He will tell me the truth." Or "Dr. Jones is a good dentist. He will know." Unfortunately Dr. Jones is the one who has been putting toxic dental materials in their mouths for years.** An Internet friend of mine had bridgework that was put in by her general dentist over top of mercury fillings. This bridgework had a stainless steel base that was very large and went around the edge of her gumline. When one would look on the back side of her teeth, one would not see teeth sitting on the gumline, but row after row of stainless steel, with the teeth sitting on the stainless steel. Stainless steel actually contains nickel which is known to cause cacer. The interaction of the mercury in her mouth with the stainless steel in the bridgework caused her to have cancer on her cheek. So my friend went to a biological or holistic dentist who is qualified to remove mercury. Her cheek was very red and sore. The biological dentist referred her to a major medical center to have the cancer removed. After the surgery was completed she asked the dentist to take out the bridgework and remove all the offending materials including the mercury under the bridgework. Her situation was very complicated, but instead of telling her that he did not want to tackle the job, the biological dentist "circumvented the truth" and told her that her bridgework was so beautiful that he didn't want to work on it. It was this beautiful bridgework in conjunction with the mercury under the bridgework that caused her to have cancer! But we love our dentists! Let me ask you a question. Did your dentist love you enough to tell you that silver fillings in your teeth contain approximately 50% mercury? Did he tell you that mercury is the most toxic non-radioactive element known to man? Did your dentist give you a copy of a Material Safety Data Sheet about the amalgam he was placing in your mouth, that said mercury was hazardous? Did he tell you that the routes of entry into your body could be through inhalation (while he is drilling into the filling), the skin (when the mercury falls under your tongue) and ingestion (swallowing it)? I bet not, but you still love your dentist. Did your dentist tell you that mercury poisoning from your dental work could cause many different types of symptoms in your body? Did he tell you that some of the chronic health effects include: tremors, inflammation of mouth and gums, excessive salivation, stomatitis (sores in the mouth), loosening of teeth, blue lines on gums, pain and numbness in extremities, nephritis (chronic inflammation of the kidneys), diarrhea, anxiety, headache, weight loss, anorexia, mental depression, nervousness, irritability, personality changes, hallucinations and evidence of intellectual deterioration? Did he tell you that contact or absorption of the skin with mercury could cause redness, that mercury could be causing a metallic taste in your mouth, and could actually cause renal shut down? Did he tell you when you were pregnant and he refilled your tooth with mercury, that in the State of California mercury is known to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm? Well, all of the above and more is written on a Materials Safety Data Sheet that comes with the amalgam capsule. Your dentist has this sheet in his office. But we all love our dentists and we don't think that we should even question them. After all, they are the doctors! We just go in and sit down like good little boys and girls and when he says, "Open wide," we just obey with a smile. We love our dentists and our dentists love us! **Dentists are afraid they will have their licenses removed if they warn patients about the dangers of mercury. However, since certain states have now "ungagged" their dentists, dentists should now feel safer in telling their patients the truth. www.dams.cc toxicteeth.org amalgam.org Back to the top Back to Mercury Poisoned main page Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only, and does not replace a personal consultation with the health care professional of your choice. © 2002 by Marie Flowers.