Mercury Free

Mercury is more dangerous than lead or arsenic

Mercury Free is described in the Author’s note as a book that’s intended to provide information for people with health “challenges” to supplement, not replace, conventional medicine.

I first discovered this book in my dentist’s waiting room – each time I visited, I would read a little bit more. However, I became so intrigued by the content that with only 2 visits each year, I became impatient and hungry for more information, so finally managed to track down my own copy.

The main reason for my interest in this book is that such a high percentage of my clients, regardless of their presenting symptoms, upon investigation, display problems in their mouths. More often than not, those clients have no idea that their teeth, gums and the variety of work they have had done over the years, plays such an important role in their overall wellbeing. I believe dental “challenges” are the precursor to a vast range of health related issues including musculoskeletal, neurological, digestive, respiratory and hormonal.

Therefore, the information contained within the pages of this book, sits very well with my clinical work and the knowledge I’ve gleaned, over the years, not only through my practice and training but also through other reading.

The book opens by revealing how Dr Hardy, as a dental student, discovered the truth about “silver” fillings and then goes on to record some historical background of amalgam and the birth of Dental Associations in America.

The next couple of chapters focus on the environmental destruction that’s taking place as the result of mercury poisoning and closes with some practical advice on how to become mercury free.

The truth about Silver fillings
Whilst we lovingly call amalgam fillings “silver”, Dr Hardy is quick to point out that they are almost completely made up of mercury, ie 70%. Only 20% is silver. The remaining 10% of metals commonly used are tin, copper and zinc. These fillings have been named “amalgams” because they are an amalgamation, or mixture, of mercury and other metals.

Amalgam fillings have up to 700 000 parts per million mercury. I was surprised to learn that in America, the FDA took tuna off the shelves because of the dangers of mercury when it only had ONE part per million of mercury!! And we have this stuff in our mouths in great quantities?

Some patients I see and dentists I know aplenty, insist that amalgam fillings are perfectly safe but Dr Hardy asks “how is it remotely safe to put 700 000 times this concentration of mercury into our patient’s teeth and allow them to chew on it for years?

The dentists usually response is “the mercury is locked up in the filling and doesn’t escape”. Dr Hardy responds by saying that “if the mercury is locked up – why do amalgams crack, break and completely wear out?”
And what happens if they fall out and we swallow them? He pondered on why the large majority of dentists throughout the world are still content to nod in unison with this position?”

Another fact which is bandied about by dentists is that only 1% of the population is affected by amalgam fillings. Dr Hardy reminds us that 1% of the population of the USA is 1 million people.

Dr Hardy speculates that some dentists may not be aware there is a problem with mercury because their dental association and /or their training schools still claim there are no real problems.

A History Lesson
We are reminded that in the first century A.D, the Roman naturalist Pliny, the Elder, wrote in his Naturalis Historiac Libri, that “mercury was a poison and had no business being used in medicine”.

The earliest written record of mercury being used in a dental filling was in 1601. A German named Tobias Dorn Kreilius described the process as dissolving copper sulphide with strong acids, adding mercury, bringing the mixture to the boil and pouring it directly into the tooth cavity”. Hardy suggests that it is not surprising that this technique was “not met with great enthusiasm”!

The French used a filing containing bismuth, tin and lead and it too was poured, boiling into the screaming patient’s teeth. No wonder some of us are terrified of the dentist, I thought when I read this. It’s probably in our genes, if some of our ancestors had to suffer these kinds of treatments.

It was another Frenchman who increased the level of mercury in the fillings in an attempt to lower the temperature of the amalgams being place into the cavities.

It wasn’t until 1826 that “room temperature” fillings came into their own when another Frenchman, M Traveau mixed pure silver powder with mercury and called it paté d’argent (silver paste). The only problem was that it expanded uncontrollably after being placed in the tooth which caused it to split.

It was around this time that “dentistry” split into two camps. Medical doctors who were trained in dentistry and medicine and “dental craftsmen” who were engaged in “some other trade, such as barbers, carpenters and tooth pullers”. There were no dental schools or dental professional associations. Hardy tells us that dentists were either self taught tooth pullers by “trial and error” or they were a medical dentist. In the 1830’s – anybody could be a dentist and if a cavity needed to be filled, the dentist might use a file on the tooth. If the file, during an operation, got too hot, it was frequently dipped in water to cool it down. Again, no wonder we have so many fears about having our teeth filed and any scratching, like on a black board makes our hair stand on end!! Again, at this time, there were no drills or anaesthetics.

The lack of controls around this time left the profession wide open to “con artists and swindlers” Hardy states and it was these people who promulgated the use of mercury fillings, they were cheap to use, quick to do and as a consequence were an extremely financially viable option for those looking to make a fast buck and they profited hugely from its widespread use.

The use of amalgam fillings was opposed by the leading medical dentists in the USA. A text book on dental surgery written by Chaplin Harris wrote, “the amalgam of mercury and silver … is decidedly the most pernicious material that has ever been employed for filling teeth. Pernicious is described in Webster’s unabridged dictionary as meaning destructive, having the power to kill, destroying, ruining or injuring; fatal, deadly, wicked or evil ….”

Though mercury was clearly known to be poisonous to the medical dentists of the 1830’s; craftsmen-dentists were not concerned with the medical consequences. Their only concern was that amalgam was easy to use, did the job of filling a hole and was profitable. Edith Maskell of Bromley Health Management suggests that there may not be much difference between the craftsmen-dentists of the 1800’s than many of our dentists today. Hence the reason so many refuse to accept that mercury is dangerous and continue to use it. It’s common knowledge that there is a specialised skill to working with white composite fillings”.

These were the issues that concerned Dr Hardy when he was training in 1978 which he was not able to resolve at dental school, so he spent some time doing his own research. His findings, which covered hundreds of studies, revealed that mercury, even in tiny amounts, was poisonous. It was “confirmed and reconfirmed to be harmful to almost every system in the human body as well as the environment”.

He adds that to complicate matters “symptoms of mercury poisoning are very often misdiagnosed for months or even, tragically, for years”. He put the main reasons for this down to the fact that “the medical professions unfamiliarity with the disease and also the unique way that symptoms are expressed from person to person”. To complicate matters, mercury poisoning also has a habit of mimicking the symptoms of known diseases. It has been shown that in cases of low level mercury poisoning, the onset of symptoms may be delayed for years.

Dr Hardy lists symptoms of mercury poisoning as being anything from vague psychological, neurological and behavioural problems such as short term memory loss, mood swings, unexplained anxiety, depression, fits of anger, irritability, indecision, excitability, shyness, chronic fatigue, allergies, headaches, nightmares, visual disturbances, ringing in the ears and weight loss, metal taste in the mouth, high blood pressure, eye twitching, itching inside the ears. Even more severe personally disorders. He explains that long term low-level exposure to mercury can slow reaction times and decrease ability to perform delicate tasks.

Because these signs of poisoning build up slowly over a period of time, very few people suspect that the fillings in their mouth, which were put in 20 years earlier, could have anything to do with or even be the source of their health problems.

Dr Hardy reminds us that mercury is released from the surface of amalgams in the form vapour. Mercury vaporises at a particular temperature which just so happens to be the same temperature that’s in our mouth. The more we have, the more exposed we are to the vapour. But we don’t need to have a mouthful. Even one, especially a new one can be the main culprit.

Long term, chronic exposure is cumulative. So as Dr Hardy explains, “this can be more dangerous than one large walloping dose”. And we chew, on our teeth all day, grinding down amalgams.

The body is not equipped to deal with mercury. It does not know how to metabolise it. Therefore can’t get rid of it. It builds up in the body, concentrating in the brain, kidneys and other vital organs. Edith Maskell of Bromley Health Management added that in her experience, “mercury toxicity has a very negative effect on the thyroid so it is not unusual for clients to experience problems with metabolism and all its associated symptoms”. She added, “As I sit on the train in the mornings, watching the number of people ferociously chewing gum, I seriously worry about the potential harm they are doing to their bodies, if they have a mouthful of amalgam fillings”.

We are also reminded that dentists have the highest rate of suicides over any other profession. Dr Hardy believes that this is a direct result of daily exposure to mercury vapour. Studies in Denmark and Poland showed increased rates of spontaneous abortion in a group of dental assistants working with mercury. It is no coincidence that the vast majority of dental assistants throughout the world are women. Additionally, whilst many dentists still extol the virtues of amalgam fillings, it is interesting to note that their professional associations have health and safety requirements relating to hygiene recommendations and the safe disposal of mercury, for the safety of dentists and their personnel, which amounts to no less than 3 pages long! This clearly must indicate that there is some acceptance of the hazards of mercury.

Gold v Silver
The Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 8, page 239, 1965 edition) states that “gold in contact with amalgam fillings constitutes short circuited, permanent galvanic cells, where the electrolytes are constantly renewed. ….. Many dentists prefer not to use silver amalgams adjacent to gold fillings because slight electrolyte action can promote toothache”. What does this mean? In other words, gold alongside silver fillings act like a battery in your mouth. So much so, that some people can pick up radio stations in their mouth!

So what’s the alternative?
Composite (white) fillings are invisible. They feel and look like normal teeth.

They are much harder than amalgam fillings and that hardness is achieved in seconds. Hence it takes specialist skills to create them.

It is vitally important to find a dentist who is sympathetic to the dangers of amalgams and has the skills to remove them properly without causing further harm. There are dentists who specialise in the removal of amalgam fillings, they have all the right, modern equipment, follow all the safety procedures and provide the patient with particular vitamins and minerals which help detoxify mercury should any vaporisation take place during the procedures and after removal. When fillings are being removed it is possible that a large concentration of vapour exists in the mouth and in the air near the mouth which the patient may breathe in.

White fillings will give many years of excellent service. Edith Maskell of Bromley Health Management can personally vouch for them. She says “my clients worry when I suggest they get their amalgam fillings replaced because they have been told by their dentist that white fillings don’t last. Well, I have had mind for 10 years and each time I go and get them checked out, my dentist confirms that they are in excellent condition and I have no reason to suspect otherwise. I have had no problems whatsoever and the satisfaction I get from the knowledge that I have a healthy mouth is great”.

At the end of the book Hardy invites us to “take a stand by choosing mercury-free dentistry so that no more mercury can trickle out of dental fillings. Choose health and show courage”. He confirms that it is our right to choose the best fillings, personal health and a safe environment”.

If you or someone you know needs advice about whether your amalgam fillings are at the root of your health problems. Call Edith Maskell of Bromley Health Management for a FREE initial consultation. Edith can also highly recommend a specialist, trusted holistic dentist with whom she works very closely for the last 8 years.

Her personal advice is, do not attempt to have your amalgam fillings removed without first researching specialist advice.

Mercury Free
Dr James E Hardy
Published by Gabriel Rose Press
ISBN 0-9649301-0-2
www.mercury-free.com

Reviewed by Edith Maskell
Bromley Health Management
March 2007 ©

Wednesday, 7 March 2007

© 2007 Bromley Health Management