The heavy metals, especially mercury, and the light metal, aluminum, play a significant role in causing chronic illness. The medical literature is replete with proof of the link of mercury poisoning to serious disease. Most of this literature is not readily accessible to the lay person because it is very technical. There are, fortunately, a number of very readable books on the market that deal with the subject of mercury poisoning from dental fillings, as well as other metal toxicity.
The books I recommend are:
Not only do mercury and other metals poison us, they often attract pathogens such as parasites, bacteria, viruses, fungus and yeast. All of these elements can form a toxic soup that often acts synergistically. The effect of a single element is often multiplied by the presence of another element or other elements. Together they create a chain of pathology. In some cases this chain can be broken and the pathology reversed. Some "incurable" diseases may not be incurable in all cases. I am living proof of this, having recovered from two "incurable" diseases: Multiple Sclerosis and Crohn's disease.
In order to minimize our exposure to mercury and other toxic metals we should first get the mercury out of our mouths. Mercury makes up 50% of every so-called "silver amalgam" filling. Mercury is, by far, the most toxic metal on the planet, and the most powerful neurotoxin on the planet. The dental profession refuses to call them mercury fillings, which is what they are. "Silver amalgam" is much less scary to hear than than "mercury amalgam". Mercury was recognized in the 19th Century as a deadly poison. Mad Hatter's Disease was caused by hatters using mercury to make felt hats. In the 19th century mercury was known as Quick Silver, taken from the German phrase Quak Silber. People who put mercury, or Quak Silber, into other people's mouths were known as "quacks". Today they are known as dentist. For more information please read The Big Dental Lie.
It is no great surprise that dentists have a high rate of serious illness, including the highest rate of suicide of any professional. The post prevalent psychological symptom of mercury poisoning is depression. All dentists are mercury toxic, according to the medical literature. I have known more than one dentist with Multiple Sclerosis. I am sure the American Dental Association has statistics about all this, which it keeps in a deep, dark file. I have challenged the ADA for 13 years to make this information public. I am still waiting for their reply.
Update: In June, 2008, the FDA agreed to settle a lawsuit concerning dental mercury. The first shoe has dropped. Here is the link to the story. The case is: Moms Against Mercury v. Eschenbach, 07cv2332, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
In the settlement, the FDA agreed to bring to a conclusion by July 2009 a regulatory review of mercury in fillings that began in 2002. The process could result in a requirement that prescribing information warn dentists and pregnant women of nervous system dangers to fetuses and young children with developing brains. "Gone are all of FDA's claims that no science exists that amalgam is unsafe," said Michael Bender of Vermont, a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Withholding important information that would help patients make informed choices in not only unethical and immoral, it is also criminal, in my opinion. If this were taken into a court of law, which may one day happen, the American Dental Association will have an extremely hard time defending itself. But you know the way it is with lawsuits. The legal system and lawyers can tie things up forever in court. A perfect example of this is the class action lawsuit against the dental profession that has been tied up in the Canadian court system for the past 12 years. There is a whole list of neurological diseases that may be caused by dental mercury besides MS: autism, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) among them. Tom Warren wrote a very interesting book called Beating Alzheimer's which is based on his personal experience with dental mercury connection.
Mercury fillings can be replaced with bio-compatible plastic fillings. To learn more about biological dentistry please click here.
In my opinion, when