Dentistry Archives

Amalgam removal experience (long)

Hi Naya and anyone else interested,

I had my first two mercury amalgam fillings replaced yesterday morning. This is a local dentist who specializes in cosmetic dentistry, amalgam removal, and neuromuscular dentistry, although he seems to do regular family dentistry as well. He doesn't use amalgams at all in his practice, and is somewhat holistic in his approach to dentistry and health.

All went well and I am feeling no worse or better than normal today. These were medium-sized fillings on two adjacent teeth-the back two on the upper right. The dentist also found a small amount of decay in a third tooth, so he drilled and filled that as well.

I hadn't done any compatibility testing for the composite filling materials, so I was a bit concerned about that. The dentist had told me during my evaluation visit that most people didn't have any problems with any of the ones he used. My doctor said he could do some lab testing, but there wasn't really time for that before my appointment. The dentist offered to muscle test me before we got started. He tested about 3 different resins and 2-3 anesthetic injection materials, and they all checked out.

The drilling was quick-I'd say less than 10 minutes. The rubber dam seemed to contain all the mercury particles. The assistant sprayed water on the drill & tooth surface to keep things cool and kept up continuous suction. I didn't have supplemental air to breathe, and I didn't notice any air filters in the room, either, but I decided to take the risk. Next time I will have a greater amount of mercury filling material drilled out, so I will ask about air.

I was done in less than an hour. The dentist is pretty quick. What took the longest was putting in the rubber dam! At my next appointment we will do the lower right, where there is more mercury and deeper fillings-3 total. For two of the teeth he expects to use onlays. From the way he described them, it sounds like a custom-fitting plug of composite material that goes down into the tooth and holds it together. He'll take a mold after drilling, then put some temporary material in/on it and then I'll go back in two weeks to have the permanent thing done. I need to read up on that to see what all it entails. It's supposed to be less invasive and cheaper than a crown and allows you to save more of the tooth.

I asked about the root canal and porcelain/metal crown I have on the lower left. It was done in 1986 and the old records say it contains some amalgam. The dentist yesterday looked at my x-rays and expressed concern that the root canal fillings did not go all the way to the bottom of the tooth. My ex-dentist did that. Who knows what kind of bacteria or decay could be in there? Anyway, new dentist says to save that one until the end, see how I'm feeling then, and then decide what to do with it. Depends on how much of a purist I am and whether I feel well enough by then to bother with it. If I decide to do something, he would refer me to a local endodontist for a consult. I know what Drs. Weston Price and Hal Huggins say about problems with root canals and wisdom teeth that have been extracted, so we shall see. My husband just sent me an interesting link. http://www.toothwisdom.net/

I felt pretty tired and a little more toxic than usual yesterday, but I kept taking my supplements all day to help keep the feelings at bay. Did normal activities, but kept it light. I got a little more sleep than normal last night, and today I feel pretty well. Certainly much better than I'd feared.

My main complaint is that my jaw hurt a fair amount from being open and having pressure applied for so long. It's been well over 10 years since I had any drilling and filling done, so I'd forgotten how uncomfortable that is. The dentist did put a block between my teeth on the left side so I had something to bite down on, and that helped quite a bit with the pain. After I was done the office manager told me they recommend taking Ibuprofen for its anti-inflammatory properties. I don't take that, but I wish I'd taken some bromelain beforehand. I skipped my Ester-C because I read that it can make the anesthetic very short-acting. Today it doesn't hurt any more than it normally does, although my neck and shoulders have been a bit more tight and sore than normal. Could just be tension because I wasn't successful at my SR yesterday afternoon and I probably scrunched my neck up while I slept last night. I've got a massage scheduled for Monday.

My gums are a little tender, probably from the injections and from having that little metal ring jammed in around my tooth. Also, at least one of the newly filled teeth is now sensitive to temperatures. I don't eat anything really hot or cold, but sometimes even cool stuff bothers it, so I have to be careful. I hope that is temporary.

I suspect everything I'm feeling is normal for post-dental work. Being well-prepared and having all the supplements ready (and remembering to take them!) and doing the glutathione IV afterwards seems to have paid off in very minimal detox reactions. Either that, or I'm not sensitive to mercury after all. That thought did occur to me…LOL! My next appointment is in 3 weeks. Now that I've seen how well it went, I'd like to get in sooner (about 2 weeks) for round two, but I can't get everything arranged now to do that.

Oh, I asked the office manager what they would expect my insurance to cover, and she said probably somewhere between 40-60%. My fillings are pretty old, some of my teeth are possibly cracked, and there may be additional small pockets of decay. That seemed pretty fair to me.

Hope this helps those who are considering amalgam replacement.

Nutmeg

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