Patient Guide — Safe Mercury Removal

Are Mercury Fillings Safe? Mercury fillings emit dangerous mercury vapor.

How we protect you from mercury vapor exposure.  When a dentist removes (drills) on an old amalgam filling, it releases a lot of mercury vapor. You can recognize an amalgam filling because it looks dark gray or silvery. When this mercury vapor is released, you can potentially breathe it in and then have it absorbed into your nervous system or other tissues.

Here’s what we do.

  1. Non-Latex Dental Dam
  2. Medical Air Nasal Hood
  3. High Volume Vacuum
  4. High Speed Suction
  5. Chunck Amalgam Removal
  6. Lots Of Water
  7. Protective Eyewear
  8. Ventilation
  9. Primary Health Provider Communication

Here’s what we do  to protect you from mercury vapor during amalgam filling removal.

First, we use a non-latex dental dam. This is sometimes called a rubber dam; it prevents you from not only breathing in vapor through your mouth but also prevents that vapor from contacting the more permeable mucosa inside your mouth. We use a non-latex dam instead of latex because it resists mercury vapor better than latex does, and because many people have latex sensitivites.

The second thing we do to protect you from mercury vapor is we use a nasal hood supplied with medical air at a high flow rate. We use the same kind of clean, filtered air they use in an operating room. With this air rushing past your nose, you’re much less likely to breathe in mercury vapor from outside the nasal hood.

Third, we place a large, high-volume vacuum right under your chin. This draws a high percentage of escaping vapor away from you and into the vacuum. The vacuum itself has special filters in it that filter not only the particulates but also bind the mercury to special carbon and sulfur layers.

Fourth, we use a high speed suction next to the dental drill, and that suction stays next to the tooth throughout the procedure.

Fifth, we use suction underneath the dam in case any vapor makes it past the nitrile dam.

Sixth, we remove the amalgam in as big of pieces as possible by using thin burrs and sectioning the filling. This way, less mercury vapor gets released.

Seventh, we use lots of water to keep the amalgam cool.

Eighth, we give you protective eyewear.

Ninth, we ventilate the room throughout and after the procedure.

Last, we communicate with your whole-body practitioner to coordinate your dental treatment with your overall plan for detoxification and to optimize your whole-body health plan.

Can I React To Dental Materials?

Your body can react adversely to dental materials in your mouth.

 Here’s a list of the top 10 offenders and where they are most commonly found;

  1. Mercury (Silver Fillings)
  2. Nickle (Crowns)
  3. Beryllium (Crowns)
  4. Aluminum (Implants)
  5. BPA (While Fillings)
  6. Chrome (Crowns)
  7. Cobalt  (Crowns)
  8. Copper (Crowns)
  9. Formaldehyde (White Fillings)
  10. Phenols (White Fillings)

Here’s  a list of the most common symptoms that can be associated with dental materials sensitivity.

  1. Tooth Sensitivity
  2. Inflamed Gums
  3. Fribomyalsia
  4. Candidiasis
  5. Cancer
  6. Autoimmune Disorders
  7. Fatigue
  8. Increased Environmental Sensitivity

How do I know if  i have these dangerous materials in my mouth?

Dr Taylor is highly knowledgeable  about dental materials and can help you understand what materials might be in your existing restorations  by reviewing your dental X-rays.  But even with X-rays  there are limitations in the ability to  identify the materials in your mouth.  For example, there may be mercury  fillings hiding under crowns or a number of base metals used in metal or porcelain fused to metal crowns.

Many people are sensitive to the dental materials placed in their mouths.  Some more, some less.   We strive to reduce the effects of dental treatment on your body by introducing only those materials that your whole body is comfortable with.  We do this by conscientiously selecting all of the materials that we use in the office, and because no two patients are alike we offer materials pretesting to see if you have any existing allergies to dental materials or dental material byproducts.  This test is useful not only for determining which products are best for future use but also  for reviewing what materials you already have in your mouth.

How much does the compatibility test cost?

Our office provides you with the test kit at no cost.  You will take the kit to a convenient pathology lab and mail your payment directly to Clifford Testing.  The rate they currently charge is around $300.

What is the Clifford Materials Reactivity Test? Clifford Consulting & Research Inc.

Clifford Materials Reactivity Testing (CMRT) is a laboratory screening process used to help identify existing sensitivity problems to various chemical groups and families of compounds in an individual patient. This process is currently being implemented in the CMRT Dental Test. After a patient’s test has been completed, the patient’s reactivity test results are compiled in a report. We are currently reporting on over 11,000 trade-named dental products and 94 chemical groups and families. We have also added a Orthopedic panel reporting on over 3900 trade-named products for surgical applications.

In modern society we come in contact with many substances every day in the food we eat, the products we use and the treatments we receive.

Because each of us possesses a unique biochemistry, these substances effect each of us differently and in varying degrees. For some, the effects of certain substances (and their corrosion byproducts) can be toxic and hazardous, and may result in serious health problems. A substance which causes little or no reaction in one individual can prove harmful to another.

Since these effects may vary in each of us, it is vital that these factors be considered when choosing dental and other materials for use in the body, especially in patients with special or unique health concerns.

Clifford Materials Reactivity Testing (CMRT) provides dentists and physicians with extensive information about their patient’s individual sensitivities so that least offensive materials can be chosen and used in their treatments.

CMRT is not merely based upon the body’s response to biomaterials themselves, but also upon response to corrosion byproducts of those materials. These byproducts are generated at various rates as the materials decompose or break down in the body. It is these products of decomposition that the body must deal with and which are most likely to cause untoward health effects and toxic conditions. The body produces systemic antibodies against challenging antigens and will maintain an immunologic record of the components or chemical families which have proven offensive and which can be observed by CMRT.