Waging the War Against Mercury Fillings in Dentistry

Are you aware that out of all the heavy metals that are found in the environment, mercury is the most dangerous? Mercury can poison you in many ways – even through the fillings your dentist puts in your mouth.

A potent neurotoxin, mercury can inflict psychological, neurological, immunological, and endocrinal damage to your health. Exposure can also cause chronic inflammation, which is the foundation of numerous diseases.

Mercury often goes unnoticed. It can enter your body through the air, land, and even water.

Coal power plants, which generate more than 50 percent of electricity in the United States, are the number one source of mercury pollution in the environment. There are about 600 coal-fueled power plants in the US, and each releases about 170 pounds of mercury into the air together with other air pollutants. That's 51 tons of mercury discharged into the environment annually.

Mercury seeps into the human body through dental amalgams.

Mercury dental fillings are the second largest mercury polluters in the country. While promoted by the dental community as seemingly harmless "silver fillings," these amalgams release colorless, tasteless, and odorless mercury vapors into your oral cavity when you eat or drink. A single amalgam releases as much as 15 micrograms of mercury per day.

REMEMBER: You can get sick from just ONE mercury dental filling. Add daily exposure to mercury vapors from amalgams to your other mercury and heavy metal exposures every single day, and you get an idea how much your health is endangered.

If mercury dental fillings are so hazardous, why are they still used by dentists?

Aside from the issue of profitability, these toxic amalgams are easier to install than composite fillings. The dental industry also has a powerful entity backing it up – the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA continues to allow the use of "silver fillings" without warning that they are made of mercury!

Mercury free dentists are emerging and providing safe alternatives to mercury fillings.