There are two types of controversies in medicine.
The first type is a controversy for which no research, or insufficient research, exists to settle the controversy. This type of controversy tends to persist until research is finally published that can put the topic to rest, at which point everyone moves on.
The second type is a controversy for which research exists to settle the controversy, but despite this research the controversy remains seemingly unsettled due to the people and companies and institutions that refuse to acknowledge that the research exists, because the findings go against their interests. And so the controversy persists.
One such controversy, of this second type, is that of mercury amalgam fillings, which have been used in dentistry in the United States since the 1800s, and are still used today, despite mercury being one of the most toxic elements to human health. To be clear, the controversy isn’t over whether or not mercury is toxic—everyone agrees that mercury is toxic—but rather over whether or not amalgam fillings leach mercury into the body, and if they do, to what extent does the mercury that leaches into the body cause harm.
What the research indicates
Amalgam fillings consist of approximately 50% mercury mixed with an alloy mainly consisting of silver, tin, and copper, and the conventional perspective is that once the amalgam filling is in place and solidified, you don’t have to worry about mercury leaching into your body, because the amalgam is sufficiently strong and durable and doesn’t break down.1 This perspective, however, is based on flawed research funded by medical device companies, and then perpetuated by most conventional dentists who were somehow bamboozled by these companies into thinking that filling teeth with mercury, despite its obvious toxicity, would be a good idea. That mercury in the teeth would stay in the teeth, and not ultimately leach into the body.
Not surprisingly, epidemiological research indicates the opposite: that mercury actually does leach into the body, at around 0.4 micrograms per amalgam filling per day, from chewing, brushing, teeth grinding, and the slow, inevitable corrosion of the amalgam.2 While 0.4 micrograms doesn’t sound like a lot—and it isn’t, really, on a per day basis—0.4 micrograms per amalgam filling per day, for years, can add up to a significant toxic burden by accumulating faster than your body has the ability to detoxify. And when you’re exposed to a toxic compound at a level that exceeds your natural ability to detoxify the compound, you develop toxicity, and your health suffers.
What mercury toxicity is
Mercury is a toxic heavy metal that humans are exposed to primarily from amalgam fillings, consumption of fish, occupational exposure, and environmental exposure, and mercury toxicity occurs when mercury accumulates in your body and causes damage to cells, organs, and systems.3
To fend off against mercury toxicity, your body has a built-in mechanism for detoxifying mercury and other heavy metals, primarily through your liver and kidneys, but certain factors, such as infections, inflammation, and stress, can decrease your body’s ability to detoxify and ultimately increase your risk of toxicity.
Genetics also play an important role in the detoxification of mercury, in that some people are predisposed to detoxify mercury less effectively than others, due to impaired glutathione production.4 But that’s not to suggest that if you have this predisposition, then all is lost, and you can’t do anything to influence your detoxification of mercury.
Of course, the most significant risk factor for mercury toxicity isn’t a lack of detoxification, but rather a continuous exposure to mercury that exceeds your ability to detoxify. Most people are able to detoxify normal, everyday, environmental exposure to mercury, regardless of their infections, inflammation, stress, and genetics, but the slow drip of mercury from amalgam fillings isn’t normal. Our system of detoxification wasn’t designed and isn’t able to deal with a continuous exposure to such a high level of mercury, so if you have amalgam fillings, it’s quite likely that it’s only a matter of time until the bucket overflows, if it hasn’t already.
And if that happens, and you develop mercury toxicity, the severity of your symptoms is typically proportional to your toxicity, with mild mercury toxicity causing mild symptoms, and severe mercury toxicity causing severe symptoms. Due to mercury’s affinity for the brain, the most common symptoms of mercury toxicity involve the neurological system, such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, insomnia, headaches, cognitive impairment, slurred speech, and muscle tremor. Other common symptoms involve the cardiovascular system, such as hypertension, heart attack, and stroke, and the immune system, such as impaired immune function, autoimmunity, food sensitivities, and allergies.
How to test for mercury toxicity
Whether you have symptoms consistent with mercury toxicity or not, if you have amalgam fillings, you’re exposed to mercury every day, and conducting a metals test is an important first step to understanding what you’re up against and ultimately eliminating your exposure to this toxic heavy metal.
A metals test measures levels of toxic metals, such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury, and essential minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, selenium, and zinc, to evaluate whether you have any toxicities of toxic metals, or deficiencies of essential minerals. Whereas toxic metals cause damage to every cell, organ, and system in your body, essential minerals are necessary for homeostatic balance, and support every aspect of your health.
So when you test for mercury toxicity with a metals test, you’re not only measuring the level of mercury in your body, but also the levels of other toxic metals that you could unknowingly be exposed to, as well as the levels of essential minerals that you might not be getting enough of from your diet and supplements.
What’s more, doing a metals test is easy. You don’t have to deal with the complexity and discomfort of a blood draw. You don’t have to take time off work to drive to a clinic, find parking, suffer through an impossibly long wait in a fluorescent-lit waiting room, roll up your sleeve, make small talk about the weather while someone repeatedly stabs your vein, and then get a bandaid, to get your results a month later, if you get them at all.
You don’t have to put up with any of that.
All you have to do is pee in a container. At home. That’s it. Easy. And then you ship the test kit, with the container, back to the lab for analysis.
How to address mercury toxicity
If your results for the metals test show a high level of mercury, indicating mercury toxicity, and you have amalgam fillings, then the most likely source of exposure is your fillings, assuming there are no other obvious sources of exposure in your life.
It’s theoretically possible that your fillings aren’t the most significant source of exposure—maybe you eat a lot of swordfish, bass, and tuna, or you live in some toxic industrial city, or you work in a factory that exposes you to mercury and other metals—but the mercury in your teeth is almost always more important than any other source to focus on and address.
Unlike testing for mercury toxicity, however, addressing mercury toxicity isn’t exactly a walk in the park. It’s a complicated, delicate process that requires doing the right things in the right order, because doing the right things in the wrong order, or the wrong things in the right order, could exacerbate your condition by increasing your exposure to mercury, or decreasing your ability to detoxify, or both.
What’s most important to get right, if you decide to replace your amalgam fillings with composite (mercury-free) fillings, is that you need to work with a dentist who’s been trained to safely remove amalgam fillings, and who understands the criticality of minimizing exposure to mercury vapor during this process. Most dentists aren’t trained to do this safely, because most dental schools haven’t yet acknowledged the harm that mercury causes in patients, so it’s important to seek out a dentist who knows what they’re doing, and isn’t just winging it.
To find such a dentist, search for a biological dentist in your area. They’re not everywhere, and you might have to travel, and you’ll probably have to go back multiple times, depending on the number of fillings you have.
It’s also important to support your detoxification of mercury before, during, and after the removal of your fillings. Your biological dentist might recommend that you take compounds that bind to and transport mercury out of the body, such as activated charcoal and bentonite clay, and amino acids and herbs that support liver function, such as NAC, glycine, and milk thistle. They’ll probably also recommend that you increase your water consumption above baseline during this process, given the significant extent to which detoxification of metals and other toxins is influenced by hydration.
Better health starts with data
Over 100 million Americans have amalgam fillings.5 If you’re one of them, and you have symptoms consistent with mercury toxicity, the best approach is to start with data.
Start with a metals test, specifically, to measure levels of toxic metals and essential minerals, and if your results show a high level of mercury, consider seeking out a biological dentist to explore the possibility of removing your amalgam fillings. If going in that direction makes sense, know that the process of removing your fillings and detoxifying mercury from your body won’t be easy, but the light at the end of the tunnel is better health, and a better life, and it’s hard to imagine anything more motivating than that.