Are amalgam dental fillings dangerous?

Amalgam - schädlich oder ungefährlich? Groß angelegtes Forschungsprojekt am Klinikum rechts der Isar abgeschlossen Unfortunately, it is in German. Looking now for a translation...

Basically, the results are not clear cut. They did say however that the changing out of amalgam for ceramic is mostly unnecessary. However, Reinhard Hickel has a different opinion.

Amalgam-Sanierungen meist unnötig


This was a pretty big study so the results should come out in English any day now and most likely will be published in some journal.

My dentists in Canada, Switzerland and in Germany have all told me that it isn't necessary to swap out my old fillings if they are holding well. But when the time comes that work/replacement needs to be done because of cracks or whatever, then they strongly advise to replace with something else. So that's what I've been doing - slowly replacing them but only when they needed to be replaced anyway. But then again, I don't have all that many amalgam fillings, since my Canadian dentist switched very early on to encouraging folks to get natural coloured fillings. His reasoning was simply that he didn't like the look of a mouth full of silver and thought that a pretty girl should also have a pretty mouth

Hickel's full of shit and his claims are purely anecdotal. The new plastic and ceramic fillings are better because they're harder and more durable but there are situations such as pocket caverns in which amalgam is the only way to go. The resins also can't take the pressure of molar surfaces so unless you can afford the ceramic (and many can't), it's gotta be amalgam. The only "good excuse" for pulling functioning amalgam fillings is vanity... or if you've got a job in a Chewing Aluminum Foil factory.

woof.

This is the exact reason why my dentist told me to rather take gold for the
molars: The ceramic fillings are harder than adamantine and can cause
abrasion on the opposite tooth.

Also, the article that I read about the new study,
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/artikel/648/167168/
says that no health risk was found. In fact, most of the people that feel
better after having their fillings removed feel better within days after
the removal when the concentration of mercury in the body is higher
than it ever was (because of the amalgam filings produced during the
procedure). Purely psychological.

How long do amalgam fillings typically last before they need to be replaced? I've had mine for 28 years.

Green Tea: Anything from 10 years to a lifetime. Depends primarily on where the filling is, whether it's subjected to pressure or agitation, and your general diet (lots of cola? less time).

woof.

I've had most of mine for about 40 years. My choppers are full of them from when I was a teenager. German dentists are amazed they hold up...
Curiously once I left school & became a student things much improved (maybe nothing left to fill...)

BD: My fillings are in a couple of lower molars. General diet: not much meat, not too many naughty sweets. Cola? - never! Seems I'm doing OK so far.

Amalgam is what it says, it's a mixture of different elements, if you believe that bollocks then frankly you should stop having stitches and also throw out any brass ornaments in your home, never get into a car or a plane etc etc etc

German dentists love to remove the amalgam fillings because it's good for business One dentist I went to for the first time immediately wanted to schedule an appointment to remove them all because of the hazard. When I pointed out that the "bad stuff" had probably already leached out into my body sometime in the 30 years since I had gotten the fillings, he agreed and said I probably didn't need to have them replaced. Needless to say, I didn't go back to that guy!

Well, it is being picked up by tons of German press, but nothing in English yet. Google translated version.

Basically, the study started associated with some legal proceedings against the firm Degussa (Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheide-Anstalt). The Foundation for German Science started a 12 year project in 1996 called the German Amalgam Trial (GAT). TUM press release (in German).

In related news (but not because of the GAT study), Norway Becomes First Country to Ban Amalgam Fillings.


So, it goes much further than just your teeth and is a broader question to be answered. While the question of harm to the body is unclear, the pollution to the environment answer is quite clear. Basically, unless you have amalgam associated problems without a doubt, it is best to take them to the grave instead of polluting the environment, but I guess you have to take them out if you are going to be cremated.

My amalgam NHS fillings held good for 20 years, without any obvious effects on my health. A lot of the crap fitted on the German public system doesn't seem to be guaranteed for half that, according to the Mrs. who has this stuff fitted. I went to a dentist and she said that gold was the way to go. Apart from the obvious bling value it wears better with the teeth around it, or something.

I’ve had mine over 30 years and they're still in good nick according to my Dentist he also said taking them out would cause more "poison" than leaving them alone

the new resins/plastics are not as porous as the older materials, but they are not as flexible as Amalgam fillings. There is still alot of patients that complain that the new filling materials are longer sensitive to cold/temp change. Also with Amalgam you could carve the filling better, you do not get the same occlusion with the new materials, therefor it can throw a bite off.


An Amalgam filling lasts 8-10 years, then usually some microleakage starts, if they are still good and no leakage- you had a good doc place them.


you are no longer in the Dental Caries risk age, as you get older the saliva changes, its not as acidic- leading to cavities, but more basic, leading to formation of calculus/tartar/zahnstein, and you are at a risk for Periodontal disease. The caries you are at risk for are around the margins of the old fillings, or on the newly exposed roots.


exactly, a filiing is 50% Mercury and 50% Metal Alloy (Silver, Nickle and a few other trace metals)


Gold is by far the best. One of my bosses has been in business for over 30 years, and many of those patients still come for cleanings, and those Gold fillings, inlays, onlays and crowns are still doing good!

Now, some people are sensitive to Mercury or Nickle, fine, get the allergy tests done and never eat Tuna again. Alot of it is pyschological, something you have to learn from the patient on their first visit and learn to work with them. We do forget how powerful the brain is.

Ye might find this site interesting:

http://www.iaomt.com/

Check out the smoking tooth video

I'm picking up the world service with mine.

I hope you are paying the licence fee.

You know the translated version at least, didn't give a tremendous amount of info there.

I am concerned. I had found the site Meckel reffered to before.

I am nursing, and need some work done. Whether to delay or not weighs on me, and I am up at 2 a.m. doing research (only time I can as baby sleeps).

I would assume that other dental fillings also have their toxicities.

I was going to switch out my three remaining amalgams to gold and get them removed under IAOMT protocol.

3 states now require that the risks of mercury be displayed in the office, and several amalgam providers state it is not recommended for children under 6 or pregnant/lactating women

And screw peer-reviewed journals, where better to do research than on TT!

HA, HA... IPJ that made me laugh. I actually wanted to see E.V's "scientific" journal link. Much as I enjoy TT, in the end it will only be research based info, with a good deal of common sense thrown in . Unfortunately there is not a lot out there in term of studies.

and for every study that says no! there are 2 more that say yes!

Removing the fillings are not dangerous with the RubberDam, most of the mercury is already gone (its almost all gone by the time the filling hardens when placed).
Dental Anesthetic is also okay on lactating moms, as is on pregnat women.
But ultimately if you are overly concerned then wait.

this is funny. I'm currently reading Quicksilver and in it is a scene where Isaac Newton is inhaling fumes of the stuff.

anyhow, I've been to 5 different dentists for as long as I've been in Germany and all have various opinions as well. Most tell me to replace them just so they have work do. This last dentist gave me a lot of literature on this and soon I will be replacing two, but they are cracking and will affect the neighboring teeth soon enough, so I said okay. However, I am not replacing them because I don't like the look of them.

I got one of these when I was about eleven, so almost eight years ago. I've never had a problem with it and I drink quite a bit of cola almost every day... but still, I'd like to get it replaced with a ceramic filling within the next year or two. How long does the procedure usually take?

Carm if you could cite any studies I would appreciate it.

One of the few articles I could find http://www.algonet.se/~leif/yfMOL95a.html

As for replacing the amalgam, 40 minutes top I would guess and you are out a couple of hundred euros.

As is typical however for German private insurance, my husband was told that he needed 3 gold inlays removed and partial crowns done...4,000 Euros. Second opinion in the States...nope... tiny areas of decay needing only small resin fillings...$450 dollars

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

from PubMed, I typed in Amalgam fillings and Mercury, was over 450 entries.

from the American Dental Association
http://www.ada.org/public/topics/fillings.asp

and from the CDA (Canadian Dental Assoc)
http://www.cda-adc.ca/en/oral_health/proce...lings/metal.asp

The ADA mentions nothing about pregnacy or lactating, where the CDA mentions not getting Ag fillings done during pregnancy.

A lot of US dentists are moving away from amalgam fillings. Why? So they can charge more. My dental insurance, for example, does not cover any type of filling other than amalgam... Strange...

Does anyone know where I can get a list of dentists in Munich and particularly Perlach area of Dentist who will still replace my Amalgam fillings with Amalgam?
I was told when I recently visited I dentist that I would be lucky to find a Dentist who would.
I want Amalgam not Plastic or Ceramic due to the price and also as I am of an age when I would prefer not to mix and match.
Also the Amalgam have srved me well upto now and last a bl..dy long time!