- Dental amalgam is NOT a true alloy. It is 50% mercury, which is NOT locked into the filling but escapes continuously during the entire life of the filling in the form of vapor, ions and abraded particles. Chewing, brushing and hot fluids stimulate this release.
- One study reported levels of mercury vapor measured in the mouth after chewing. The level was 54 times higher in the presence of amalgam fillings.
- The absorption rate of inhaled mercury vapor is extremely high. Approximately 80% reaches the brain within one blood circulation cycle.
- The extreme toxicity of mercury is well documented. Current research clearly demonstrates that inorganic mercury is just as toxic as organic mercury under various physiological conditions.
- The toxic threshold for mercury vapor has never been found. Even the US Environmental Protection Agency has affirmed this. The existing occupational standards are all specifically declared to be estimates only on the appearance of clinically observable signs and symptoms. Statements by the dental profession that the amount of mercury exposure encountered by patients from dental amalgam is too small to be harmful are contradicted by the scientific literature. They are totally indefensible. Dentists receive no training that would even enable them to look for symptoms related to mercury toxicity.
- Controlled, broad-scale scientific studies of the health effects of mercury released from amalgam fillings have NEVER been conducted. The true nature and full extent of amalgam’s effects remain unknown.
- Mercury from amalgam fillings is stored principally in the kidneys and nervous system. It has also been shown to cross the placenta and collect in fetal tissues. Studies show that mercury levels in the liver, kidney and brain tissues of a deceased fetus, newborn or young child is proportional to the number of amalgam fillings in the mother’s mouth. One such study concluded that “the elevated concentrations of inorganic mercury found in tissues of people with amalgam fillings derive mainly from these fillings and not from other theoretically possible sources.”
- Mercury from dental amalgam is also transported through breast milk. In fact, it has been demonstrated that breast milk increases the bioavailability of mercury to the newborn. Negative developmental effects have been shown in animal models in relation to these sources and concentrations of mercury.
- The halftime for the elimination of a single dose of mercury is extremely long – certainly at least 30 days for the whole body and perhaps as long as 10,000 days for the brain. Multiple small doses will therefore result in body accumulation.
- Sheep and monkey studies have confirmed that mercury from dental amalgams accumulates throughout the body, including the brain.
- Human autopsy studies have shown the concentration of mercury in the brain is directly related to the number, size and age of amalgam fillings in the mouth.
- Mercury has been shown to interfere with tubulin synthesis, resulting in “neurofibril tangles” in the brain. Mercury, specifically from dental amalgam placed in rats’ teeth, has been shown to affect tubulin synthesis. Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by damaged brain tubulin and neurofibril tangles.
- Mercury from dental amalgam has been shown to be related to antibiotic resistance in the gut and oral cavity.